


a rough endeavour to win her back

by yayastar20



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Future AU, alternatively: a fic showing sayotsugu growth, essentially an ex girlfriends back to girlfriends plot, kinda really angsty, wait future au is kind of misleading.... it’s a years later au, with a thicc spread of angst because angst is great
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:07:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 45,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23099062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yayastar20/pseuds/yayastar20
Summary: It's been 2 years since they've broken up. Sayo can't forget about her.They meet again, and Sayo falls in love with her all over again. However, It's apparent that Tsugumi is not in love with her anymore. Sayo doesn't want to give up on her.Sayo will win her back.(original title: the art of getting back together)
Relationships: Hazawa Tsugumi/Hikawa Sayo
Comments: 61
Kudos: 202





	1. sayo becomes an alcoholic (lol)

**Author's Note:**

> im not too sure about this fic... i've been meaning to post it for a while... i hope it's at least just that bit interesting for some peoples

A day of supposed happiness, cheering and growing up- is nothing but dull clouds and gloomy rain without an umbrella to protect her from the water.

Sayo’s day of graduation brought her nothing but misery. Which started with the Future World fes. Roselia went on world tours, with many fans, and Sayo should have revelled in her fame- that people finally acknowledged her. Saw her as someone perfect and special.

It baffled Sayo that she wasn’t happy. Surely, with such a perfect ending to her sad story, she should be happy.

_“So.” She said, wringing her hands together nervously. Sayo noted that her eyes were baggy, her shoulder drooping down. Her cute bob-haired brown hair was messier than usual._

_“This is the end right?” Tsugumi asked, not meeting Sayo’s eyes. It seemed like Tsugumi’s eyes would fill with tears any time soon and Sayo felt the same way._

_Sayo looks down, like Tsugumi. “Yes. I believe so.” She answers, wishing she could do something- anything to change this situation. “With Roselia’s world touring, we’d be very busy and you still have to go to college-”_

_Tsugumi hushes her pushing her hands on her lips. Tsugumi exhales shakily, pursing her lips together. She looks up at Sayo. “Is it fine if I give you one last kiss?” She asks. Asking for permission now makes Sayo’s eyes brim with tears- asking now brought her to reality- that something had changed. And that it was a change that’s permanent._

_“Yes. Please.” Sayo answers before Tsugumi pressed her lips on Sayos, tears finally falling as they kissed like it was their last. Which may as well would be. Their last kiss- a mixture of tears, and sadness._

_They pull away after a moment of silence. Tsugumi wiped away her tears, sniffing. “Happy Graduation, Sayo-chan. I love you.” Sayo closes her eyes._

_“Thank you. I love you too, Tsugumi.”_

_And then after their first two world tours, Sayo couldn’t take it anymore. She flew back to Japan- for Tsugumi. Sayo decided that she can’t live without Tsugumi. She was too in love with her._

_With the guitar she’s held on to since the beginning slung over her shoulder, she walked with purpose. Her heart beat fast at the prospect of seeing her, holding her._

_And as she reaches the door, she peers in nervously. But suddenly, all of her nervousness disappeared. In fact, everything for her froze with what she was presented with when she looked in._

_It was Tsugumi. Definitely was her. With her cute bobbed brown hair. Wearing her uniform and an apron on top, suggesting that she started working right after school. Her productivity has always amazed Sayo, because without her guitar, she would have been doing nothing._

_But no. She didn’t freeze because of how in awe she was at seeing Tsugumi._

_Tsugumi was there. That was her. And Sayo wished_ **_desperately_ ** _that it wasn’t the love of her life who just kissed-_

_Kissed-_

_...Tsugumi moved on._

_She’s found someone better than Sayo could ever be, rather evident in that other person's confident demeanor. Tsugumi’s laughter which used to be the most comforting sound started to pierce through her._

_Sayo never made her laugh like that. Did she? She doesn’t remember, because the last time she’d even seen Tsugumi was when she was crying. She made her cry._

_...Did Sayo even deserve Tsugumi anymore?_

_And with that, Sayo left._

And then Sayo is brought back to present- in a bar in America, already on her 3rd shot of unfiltered vodka. It’d been two years already and she still hasn’t gotten over her ex-girlfriend. _Pathetic_.

“Sayo!” Lisa would bring her back to reality, her head suddenly feeling a sharp pain at the back when Lisa smacks the back of her head. “You’re here again? You _trying_ to be an alcoholic? I _knew_ I shouldn’t have introduced you and Yukina to alcohol- S-Sayo?!”

Sayo hits her head on the table, face hitting the hard, cold wood. She’s hiccuping, and crying, and all everything that _Hikawa Sayo_ shouldn’t be doing.

Lisa panics, and pulls Sayo upward, lowering herself down to eye level for Sayo. Lisa wipes away Sayo’s tears as Sayo hiccups again, looking down and eyes baggy. Lisa’s eyes soften after realisation.

“You still can’t get over her?” Lisa says and Sayo nods her head, feeling pathetic again. Tsugumi must be doing well, without her. She’s moved on, with another girl who is way better than her. Who could be there for her and be more _glamorous_ and _less_ _Sayo_.

Sayo lets out a shaky, quiet cry for Tsugumi, again. Lisa just watches, helplessly, as the usually stoic Hikawa Sayo breaks down in Lisa’s arms, crying for the only girl she had ever really loved before. Who had seen her in her lowest with her relationship with Hina, and brought her to her highest.

She was _truly_ amazing. And Sayo can’t seem to let her go just yet.

“You’re lucky, Lisa-san.” Sayo slurs, in her intoxicated state. “You love someone in our band. You get to be with her everyday, see her at every moment. Be there for her.” Lisa nods her head, a sign for Sayo to continue.

“Meanwhile me, I’m miles away from the one I love, she has moved on, and I’m in such a pathetic state. What a disgrace.” Sayo tries to make her sobs quiet, to no avail. 

“Tsugu moved on…?” Lisa mumbles, in shock. “What do you mean?” She asks.

“Remember when I ran away after our second world tour?” Sayo sobs, taking another sip from her glass and Lisa takes it away. “I went to see Tsugumi.”

“Oh.” Lisa says. She remembers that, when Sayo came back to them, she was in a bad mood. A really bad mood which lasted over weeks- and now, evidently, it’s been 2 years, and she still hasn’t moved on from it.

“I- I saw her *hic*. She was- ki- ...She was-” Sayo struggled with her words. Lisa shook her head, “It’s okay, you don’t need to say anything more”

Lisa pats her back in pity. “Here, listen, I’ll set you up. Maybe finally distract yourself from her for a while by trying to look for someone else?” She suggests.

Lisa had been trying to set her up with other people for a while, but Sayo always declined the offer. She couldn’t forget about Tsugumi. But she’d had enough of this.

So she says yes.

The first girl she meets, it goes all over the internet.

This was a friend (or was it rival?, because she was from a different school) of Lisa’s from dancing during high school. Sayo had recognised her, she had been in a photoshoot that Pastel Palettes had been in, and there was a faint recollection of nine girls singing and dancing. Hm. Maybe she’d ask Hina who she was once they come home from touring.

She was beautiful, definitely. The girl Sayo had met had the right curves in the right areas. She had that adult, or mystery vibe, with teal eyes and purple hair. And at times she’d have that Cheshire cat grin when she’d tease her.

But, she wasn’t Tsugumi. But that was okay. The girl admitted she’d been trying to move on from her crush on her best friend by looking for someone else. They had the same intentions.

She admitted that Sayo reminded her of her best friend, with her serious manner, and when Sayo had tied her hair once, that was the killer point- because her best friend always had her hair in a ponytail. 

They bonded through her date talking about her best friend and at the end of the “date”, the girl proceeded to grab her boobs. Sayo jumped back in shock- and embarrassment. The girl laughed and then promptly pressed her lips on Sayo.

When she got home, Lisa texted her, telling her that she knows the date went well considering their little kiss was all over the news by then. Sayo from the world-wide famous band; Roselia’s guitarist, had kissed a girl after being single for so long. They claimed that she had ‘finally moved on from her first love’.

Even though it would be virtually impossible, considering she remembers how much Tsugumi likes to surf on the news, she hopes that Tsugumi wouldn’t see that- and get the wrong idea.

Nevertheless, she continued to meet the girl- rather than as a date, but more as a friend outing. The girl’s presence was ultimately comforting… and she gave great advice. And she was pleasant, minus the dirty jokes and boob groping.

Of course, during one of their outings, they were interrupted by another girl, with silky blonde hair tied up and a dazzling set of blue eyes. The blonde girl looked almost heartbroken when she saw them together. 

Sayo later discovered that this was the best friend that her date had been so in love with. Sayo found herself giving them privacy, but still curiously looking over to them, to see them talking in such an emotional state. It was almost an argument if it wasn’t so obvious that the two weren’t going to kill each other but instead on the verge of hugging.

And then did eventually hug. And the purple haired girl then kissed the blonde. This is when Sayo speaks, smiling, “I told you.” The blonde girl looked completely confused whereas the other girl turned red and nodded her head. “Yeah… you were right.”

They continued the outing even with the interruption, only this time, the blonde girl joined them. She was also a delight to be around, with many interesting stories to counter-tease her best friend. They were basically an old married couple from their easy, friendly manner and that _thing_ they do with their gazes. They look each other in the eye and converse without actually talking. How they manage to understand each other like that baffles Sayo.

Now, Sayo meets up with them occasionally over coffee. It’s mostly to ask for advice or to see that the couple is doing well.

It’s not long until Lisa fixes up another date for Sayo.

This time, instead of a girl, Lisa was hoping that a man could help her move on.

Sayo… is not completely a lesbian. She prefers girls, but her attraction is mostly based on the person themself.

So she’s not _too_ biased.

But damn it Lisa, let her be the first to say that this man is absolute trash.

Sayo has no idea what Lisa was thinking when she chose him. Outwardly, his general appearance is considered handsome, with his slick-back black hair, and perhaps to others, hypnotic red eyes and tanned skin. He was tall, and not too skinny, but not too buff. And maybe, in the first few moments, she would have named him chivalrous, gentlemanly even.

They had a pleasant conversation in the beginning, with him taking the lead, which she was grateful for because _goodness_ she is _bad_ at starting conversations because she can only be synonymous with socially awkward.

But _he_ . Goodness fucking gracious, _he_ says. “So. I heard from Lisa-chan that you’re trying to get over your first love?” An innocent question. She, politely, nods her head, not revealing too much about Tsugumi so she didn’t have to think too much and cut deeper wounds in her heart.

“Mmm and this first love is a girl?”

Sayo looks up from her meal. Her eyes narrowing and suddenly alarmed, her shoulders tense, she asks, “Yes… What of it?” The boy hums again, his smirk initially seen as devilish, now literally satanic in her eyes, her irritation starting to grow.

“No. Nothing is wrong!” He says, in an attempt to stay innocent, though that smirk of his was _nothing_ but innocent. “Just that. With me around, you shouldn’t have too much problem getting over her. Not when I can do so much better than her in be-“

Sayo immediately stands up, startling the smirking boy who now looks up at her, confused and curious. She takes out a few bills and slams it down on the table. Sayo leans in close, her eyes unwavering and intimidating the boy. She inhales sharply, her irritation growing with every second at looking at his… face.

“Thank you for today. But I will be going. _Now_.” and without giving him room to talk, she stomps out of the restaurant.

Sayo rants about this to Lisa, who was horrified at the revelation. Turns out, the guy was a friend of hers at a few lectures that Lisa had attended before, and this side of him was never shown to Lisa. Lisa blocked him on all social media platforms and gave him a real talking to after that. 

“Sorry, Sayo…” Lisa looked genuinely apologetic for it. “He’s never said anything like that- to me, anyway. I didn’t know he was actually like that…” Her lips pursed and her brows furrowed. “I’m really sorry.” Sayo shook her head in response and placed her hand on Lisa’s shoulder, “It’s alright Lisa-san. Not everyone shows their true colours too easily.”

Lisa nods her head, though it was more sure than before. “Ok.” She responds. Sayo smiles in relief. “Good. Now, will you join me for a drink?” She says, hoping it could lighten the mood. 

Lisa rolls her eyes in response, giggling. “You’re gonna wind up being an alcoholic, you know.” Sayo is already walking in the direction of the bar. “You didn’t say no, Lisa-san.”

Lisa shakes her head, laughing, “Who are you, and what have you done to stick-in-her-ass Sayo?” She runs to catch up and places her hand on Sayo’s shoulders as a small hug. Sayo’s lips curl upward even more. “I only have you to blame.”

The brunettes scoffs indignantly, “Excu~se me, Sayo. You can’t blame me for your alcoholic tendencies.” 

“Why must you always relate it back to me being an alcoholic?” She asks, slightly exasperatedly.

“Be~ cau~ se, you’re always hanging out in that bar! I mean- I dont mean to poke fun at your issue… We _all_ miss her too Just-.” _Just not in the way you do_. Sayo knew what Lisa was going to say next, before she stopped herself.

Sayo merely nods.

When they enter the bar, Lisa ends up calling Yukina to pick them up because both Sayo and Lisa end up getting wasted. Lisa kept pouring out drinks for Sayo as continuous apologies. And just like every time, Sayo ends up being a crying mess, remembering Tsugumi. Again.

“Hellooooo~? Yukinaaa?” Lisa slurs, with a loose grip on her phone. “Sayo is dr- *hic* dwunkk againnn~” And then laughs at Sayo’s intoxicated state, “HahaHA she’s crying.” And pushes her phone to Sayo who sobs even louder and brings her cup closer to her chest, as if it was going to run away.

“...Lisa. Are you and Sayo at the bar again.” Yukina says through the speaker, rustling sounds clearly heard. “Yeaaaaaa… I’m here as emotional support for this baby.” Lisa says, and puffs her chest, as if Yukina could see her.

Yukina’s sigh was obvious. “Ako. Rinko.” She calls out, a faint “Y-Yeah?” could be heard in the background. “We’re picking up Lisa and Sayo from the bar.”

“Huh?! Sayo-san’s at the bar again!? W-Wait a sec! Let me finish this-”

“Ako-chan, it’s okay… You can finish that later… You also need to do your assignments…” 

“Buuut! We’re doing a tour! Can’t they make me do it when I’m actually at school…”

“Still… This is your last year of high school… You still need to do your-”

And then Yukina hangs up and Lisa laughs boisterously, “Poor Ako, she’s still in schooool” And then Lisa started crying. “Uwahhhhh I’m so sorryyyyyyy Sayooooooo..~~”

Sayo, who is still crying about Tsugumi sobs, “I’m sorryy for leaving youuu Tsugumiii, pleasee come back to me!!”

The customers clear out and it was just them two, hugging each other, crying together about completely separate things when Yukina had come in with Ako and Rinko.

Yukina sighs, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “You two get Sayo, I’ll get Lisa. We’ll go back to our hotel.” And as she put her hand on Lisa’s shoulder, the brunette stuck onto her girlfriend. “Yukina!” She squeals, her tears comically immediately gone.

“Sayo-san! Let us traverse to our hellish domain so I may fulfil my mere mortal duties!” Ako cries out, pulling on one of Sayo’s arms. Sayo, having been used to Ako’s theatrics, fully understood the meaning and stood up straight, crossing her arms.

“Yyyouuu…” She slurs, attempting to be intimidating, only failing because of her stumbling easily. “Haven’t done your homework yet?” Sayo frowns and speed walks to the car, yelling, “We must go back as soon as possisss iss ible…- possible! For Ako’s aaaakodemic future!” And chuckles to herself at her joke.

Lisa perks up at that statement and laughs, skipping along with Sayo to reach the car. The three sober ones just look at each other and shrug, before running after the drunkards, hoping desperately that they wouldn’t get into any trouble.

Sayo’s head pounded extremely hard the morning after. “Ugh…” She groans, sitting on the dining table with Ako diligently doing her work. “Good morning, Sayo-san!” Ako greets, eyes flitting up to glance at Sayo for a moment before focusing back on her work. “How is your head?” She asks, writing down for a second and then looking up to await Sayo’s response.

The teal haired girl only shakes her head. “How is your work?” She replies instead. Ako hums, frowning and looking down, “The mortal toil bestowed upon me… uh…” She poses flamboyantly, wearing a confident grin until she struggles on her last words.

“Is arduous and I require thy assistance?” Rinko calls from the kitchen, and enters the room with a tray of tea and coffee.

Ako regains her flamboyance, “Is arduous and I require thy- wait what!? I- It’s not _that_ hard! I- I can do it!” When she realises what Rinko says, she turns bright red. Rinko giggles, and places down tea in front of Ako and coffee for Sayo.

“Good morning Sayo-san…” She greets, a small smile on her face. “Thank you. And good morning, Rinko-san.” Sayo replies back, drinking the coffee given and feeling a slight relief from her drink.

Rinko walks over to Ako and kisses the top of her head. As Sayo drinks her coffee, she glances at the couple. It’s hard to not be enviable, being the 5th wheel of the group, but eventually she’d gotten used to Lisa and Yukina’s extensive PDA.

Rinko and Ako were initially a couple to do couple-y things in secret, but as the years go by, they’ve eased into the affection and aren’t afraid anymore to do things in public. Ako stands up, groaning audibly and resting her head in her head. “I can’t do this anymore Rin-Rin…”

Sayo looks up at the tall figure. She can’t even begin to imagine how the small Ako has now become some tall, ikemen-like person. It’s confusing how people find Ako handsome when she still acts like a chuunibyou.

Her head bows down because of an oncoming headache. She’s definitely got that ikemen like her sister, Sayo notes absentmindedly. And also the same obliviousness… Not that she, herself can talk. Tsugumi used to call her dense because of the amount of hints she’d missed given to her.

_Tomoe-san still beats Ako-san when it comes to height, though._

Before long, she’s finished her coffee, and found herself assisting Ako in her work.

Sayo loves to perform. She’s still on her journey to finding her sound, and Yukina tells her that her sound is already there, just merely evolving and growing into something great.

Lisa tells her that emotion is one of the prominent things that brings her sound out.

Maybe that’s why. It’s on days that Yukina praises her where Sayo misses Tsugumi the most. Where she remembers fleetingly, how she laughs, talks, makes her heart flutter.

Maybe, if Sayo hadn’t walked into Hazawa Coffee that one day, her sound wouldn’t have been as great as it is now.

“Keep up the good work, Sayo.” Yukina says at the end of their practise, a small, warm smile on her face. _Ah._ Sayo found herself thinking about Tsugumi again. Sayo bows down, unsure of whether to feel happy, or sad. “Thank you, Yukina-san. You too.”

 _When I start thinking about her,_ Sayo muses, _I can’t stop_.

And it’s true.

It’s in the small things. Like when she’s tuning her guitar, she recalls Tsugumi’s awkward, and cute confession whilst she was tuning her guitar. Tsugumi admitted once that it was just that small mundane task, where she realised that her feelings were love.

Or even the sight of a coffee shop reminds her of Tsugumi. Or even an artist that Tsugumi listens to often-

_...I miss her._

It takes Lisa months before she sets up another date for Sayo.

It’s after the tour they had in America. They’re taking a 3 month hiatus because of all the hard work they had in putting up performances and even- helping out in setting up equipment or packing it to lower their prices.

And also because, Ako’s exam period was upcoming so they wanted to help the girl to do well. Even if Ako is already doing relatively well with the band’s great popularity, the band still wants Ako to focus on her education.

So they’re back in Japan.

“Mouu, you guys really don’t need to come with me to school!” Ako complains, turning red as the entire band walks together to school. They could easily hear gasps and murmurs from the high schoolers around.

“It’s fine isn’t it~” Lisa laughs, patting Ako on the back. “I haven’t been here in so long~ How nostalgic~ Right, Yukina?” She grins at Yukina who laughs briefly, a small smile on her face.

“Indeed. I remember in that area-” she points her face in the direction of a particularly isolated spot. “-was the best place for the cat cluster. In winter, afternoon. Clearly, the best part.”

Lisa pouts and crosses her arms, “And being in school with me wasn’t good enough?” Yukina turns red and faces Lisa quickly, “N-No that’s not what I-”

Lisa laughs again, and kisses her cheek, “Don’t worry, I know what you mean.”

“Excuse me! C-Can I have an autograph?” One girl shouts, rushing toward the group. It wasn’t long until a large crowd of girls follow and the girls find themselves running away from their fangirls.

Sayo comments, “I wonder how Seta-san was able to cope with this in high school.” she scowls, remembering the overly pretentious girl. Lisa hums, placing her hand on her chin like she’s thinking. “Well~ Kaoru liked the attention back then I suppose? But turns out she wasn’t really like that at all huhh~”

Lisa was right. Kaoru’s princely front was a form from her misguided ideals. She remembers at Chisato and Kaoru’s wedding, Kaoru’s speech was about how she forced herself to be princely because she believed otherwise, she couldn’t be near Chisato's league. But Chisato likes her better if she is who she is.

Afterward, they eloped. Or at least, that’s what the media says.

It’s a cute, romantic love story. Not the kind of genre, she, personally, would read, but she knows that Tsugumi adores this kind of sappy story.

About the date, It’s another boy this time. But Lisa knows him a lot better than the last guy and so far, Sayo has a good impression on him.

He was bubbly and cute, with brown hair, poofy but obviously groomed. At first he had been adorably nervous but when he had gotten comfortable, he was happy and nice and-

Goddamn it, he reminded her so much about Tsugumi.

It was in his manners, when he sometimes let out that he thought of himself negatively.

And it was also his interest in astronomy. He talked about certain mythologies of stars that Sayo remembered that Tsugumi would talk about.

But even if he was like Tsugumi, he wasn’t Tsugumi.

Sayo could eventually see the difference. He liked black coffee, for one, and she remembers how much her ex-girlfriend hated the beverage (she in-fact, called it, ‘satan in drink form’. Though, this quality is certainly a nice quality to see for once- not many people appreciate black coffee.

What’s more… He doesn’t possess the ability to see things through if they seem impossible or unreachable. He told her a story of him wanting to go for Harvard but he believed that he wasn’t good enough for his scores. So he didn’t even try.

They conversed in a coffee shop. Ordering black coffee together and then afterward walking together to no particular destination in mind.

He seemed nervous though, and Sayo looked up at him curiously to see him fiddling with his hands. The boy reached down and held her hand, smiling sheepishly, “I’m told that boys are meant to lead.” He quickly explains, his face completely red. “But I can’t help but ask- can I hold your hand?”

_“U-Um, Sayo-san? Can I… hold your hand?” Tsugumi asks, looking everywhere but her._

Sayo stares at him, a little stunned for that moment, but nods her head, her corners of her lips curling upward because of the similarity of the two. Even when she’s on a date with someone else, she can’t help but think about her ex-girlfriend.

She wonders if this sort of obsession was even healthy.

“Yes.” Sayo answers, and the guy looks relieved at her answer. His smile is wide and oddly cute. She can’t help but compare him with a dog when he reacts like this.

“Sayo… chan….?”

Sayo and her date stop moving. They turn around only to be met with the curious gaze of of course, her ex girlfriend, Tsugumi. This kind of situation seems so painfully cliche, that Sayo thinks that maybe her life has become a shitty fanfiction.

“Tsugumi.” Sayo says her name, right back. She tracks Tsugumi’s eyes and sees that she’s looking at her and her dates hands. Immediately, she lets go of their hands.

“W-What’s- what are you doing here?” Sayo asks, looking between her dates confused eyes, and her ex-girlfriend.

“I- i live here- Do you even know where you are?” Tsugumi asks, half-joking, but her voice cracked a little. Sayo hopes she isn’t straining herself again.

Sayo takes one look at her surroundings and realises that they’re near Tsugumi’s house, near the area where Hazawa Coffee is- where she witnessed Tsugumi moving on.

“Oh.” Is all Sayo says.

Tsugumi looks at her date, and smiles. “Nice to meet you! I’m Hazawa Tsugumi. I’m…” Tsugumi looks over to Sayo, a small smile, full of nostalgia, before it disappeared completely. “I’m a friend of Sayo-ch- san’s. You are…?”

Sayo feels hurt wash over her when Tsugumi changes the honorific from ‘chan’ to ‘san’ in order to distance each other.

Her date looks flustered at meeting her- a new person. It’s also another thing that Sayo recognised was similar to him and the girl in front of him. Really, what are the odds. Sayo wonders how Lisa had met this man.

Oops, she zoned out.

“I uh, am actually a friend of Lisa-chan’s! Lisa-chan introduced me to Sayo-san and we’re…” He looks over at Sayo nervously, unsure of what to tell Tsugumi.

Sayo’s frown deepens for a second before her expression remains neutral. “We’re on a date.” She says. Sayo knows that Tsugumi will notice how uncomfortable Sayo was with admitting it out loud, even if it seemed like she said it easily.

Her date sighed in relief. “Uh- yeah! W-We’re on a date.” He announces.

“Oh.” that was all Tsugumi could say. 

Tsugumi looks down and mumbles to herself. Sayo strains herself to hear what her ex-girlfriend said only to hear bits of the sentence like, “no idea” or “liked” and “men”. Sayo understood the meaning, and she frowns even more.

“Really! I’m happy for you!” Tsugumi bears a wide smile, bubbly and happy, a stark contrast to her quiet self that she bared just then. 

Sayo wonders if Tsugumi even misses her the same way Sayo misses her.

“I haven’t seen you in so long, Sayo-san! How have you been?” Tsugumi asks, putting her hands behind her back casually. “Roselia seems to be doing well! Ako-chan tells me that you still get on her case about school work. You’re as diligent as always, hmm~”

Sayo was thankful for Tsugumi initiating the conversation. “I’ve been doing well. Roselia’s still touring even after these years. Though we’re on hiatus now, for Ako-san.”

“Aah, I heard about that!” Tsugumi laughs, clasping her hands together, seemingly easing into talking to her ex-girlfriend after 2 years. “Ako-chan complained a lot~”

Sayo smiles, “I’m assuming you met up with Ako-san, then?” Tsugumi nods her head, “Mhm, Tomoe-chan was really excited to see her again after so long, she texted everyone and they all came to Hazawa Coffee.”

“Hm, perhaps I should visit Hazawa Coffee again. I do remember your cakes being amazing.” Sayo says, tapping her chin in thought.

There’s a tint of red on Tsugumi’s cheeks at being praised, “Please do! I’ll be happy to serve you again!” She giggles, her smile widening.

Sayo can feel heat crawling up her neck, threatening to cover her face at her ex-girlfriends cute visage. She’s about to respond when Tsugumi looks down at her phone and gasps.

“Aaah! I’m gonna be late!” She says, “I’m sorry Sayo-san! I’ve got to go.” She turns to Sayo’s date and bows, “And it was nice to meet you. Goodbye!” And runs away in a frenzy. Sayo has no reason to chase after her. Even though the temptation is great.

So she doesn’t go after her.

Instead, she continues her date. However, after their encounter with Tsugumi, she couldn’t focus on anything but how much she missed her- and that she wanted to see her again.

It was obvious to her date, how unresponsive Sayo was being. He brings her to a park and they sit on the swings, next to each other. “Woow..” He says, looking up at the stars, in awe. “The stars never fail to amaze me. I guess you could say I get; starstruck.” He laughs to himself, and frowns when he notices that Sayo isn’t listening.

“Sayo-san.”

Sayo looks up at this point, hearing her name bringing her attention to the boy next to her. “Ah. Um. Sorry, I wasn’t listening. What were we talking about?” She asks, guiltily.

He laughs quietly, breathily, and looks up again at the stars, swinging slightly. “Lisa-chan told me that you were looking for someone to help you move on from your ex-girlfriend.”

Sayo tenses immediately, hearing him talk. She remembers the last time this sort of conversation happened and tried to talk, “i-”

Her date shakes his head and turns his head to Sayo, “It’s okay, I’m not against this kind of thing.” Sayo lets out an audible sigh of relief.

“After all, I guess, I used to be gay too!” He announces suddenly, and then frowns, thinking to himself. “Or at least, you’re bi, right?” He clicks his fingers in her direction, tilting his head.

Sayo looks down at her feet, her eyebrows creasing. “I… would rather not name it directly. I like… who I like.” Saying it out loud always made her feel more confident. And then she turns to the man. “But what do you mean by ‘used to be gay’?”

“Aah…” The guy groans, a small, nervous grin on his face. “It’s more of, I wasn’t always a boy.” he admits in an almost timid voice.

“Oh.” Is all Sayo can really say at the admission. She hadn’t known, but it made a lot more sense. His mannerisms were very gentle, and almost feminine. It’s a characteristic that’s less common in guys.

“It’s weird isn’t it?” He finishes, sighing as if in acceptance that she would find him weird. Sayo wishes she didn’t know why he felt like this. But being in his situation usually means there’s a lot of criticism behind him.

Sayo is quick to answer. “No. Not at all.” She assures him, “My opinion is worth nothing on this matter since it’s your life. But I think it’s admirable that you are able to be like this openly.” A small smile graces her lips

“Really? Well… Sayo-san, thank you.” He smiles gladly.

“The girl before. Tsugumi-san, wasn’t it? That was… your ex right?” He asks, now genuinely interested in their relationship. 

Sayo purses her lips and nods her head in confirmation. The man smiles brightly and brings his hands together, “I knew it!” He exclaims. “I mean, if you weren’t dating then you and her were in love with each other at one point because the longing gazes were not. subtle. at. all~”

“Longing?” She asks, her cheeks brightening at being caught. 

“Yeah! Well, to be honest I don’t think you should try to move on from her.” he says bluntly, now swinging carelessly on the swings.

“Why?”

“Well… You guys broke up because of graduation right? You were too young and immature to handle a long distance relationship. But now that you’ ve gotten older, and more mature, maybe you could try again to date her… it could turn out better than you think!”

“...Assuming that is true, I believe I’ve already missed out on my chance for that.” Sayo says, reminded of the time she came back from the tour. He tilts his head at her, nodding his head for her to go on.

“A month after our second tour, I couldn’t take it anymore. I came back. To Japan. Home. You know how Tsugumi-san runs a cafe, and I went there. And when I got there, it was clear she moved on.” Sayo frowns, her fists clenched at the memory. She closes her eyes to compose herself.

“I saw her kissing someone else. It didn’t seem forced onto her either, with how she was laughing afterward. She seemed happier…” She opens her palms and rubs them on her knees, hoping the contact could calm her sunken heart.

The boy looks down, a little sad at the revelation. But he perks up almost immediately with a determination that reminds Sayo of Tsugumi. “I think you should try anyway! There’s no way of really knowing how she feels unless you ask her yourself.”

He has a point.

“We split ways now.” He looks at his watch, and smiles supportively. “Go to her. You can do it.” And jogs away, Sayo watches his figure go and looks down.

When she opens her phone the notifications burst in her face. She sighs fondly and calls the person who kept texting her.

“Hello? Sayo?” Lisa’s voice came from the phone.

“...Lisa-san.” Sayo responds, a small smile on her face. “You know it’s rude to message me when you know I had an appointment.”

“Aaah I’m so sorry!!” Lisa giggles, “But you sound happy! Was the date really that good? Would you like a second date with him? I can set you guys up again.”

“No.” Sayo says almost immediately. “I would rather not go on a second date, no matter how pleasant he seemed. In fact, he convinced me to not move on yet.”

“Not move on?” Lisa asks confusedly.

“I saw... her.” Is all Sayo simply says. And she knows that Lisa will understand what she means. “We talked for a while. My feelings have… not left me it seems.”

Sayo can almost hear the gears in Lisa’s head turning. But she still hasn’t responded. She pulls the phone away to see if she was still connected. And then to her ear. “LIsa-sa-”

“OH MY GOD.”

The feedback hurts.

“Lisa-san!” Sayo hisses, wincing at the pain in her ear.

“Sorry, sorry! But of all things to hear, I was not expecting to hear this! I didn’t even think you’d even see her!!” Lisa exclaims, but for some reason she seems almost…. Excited??

Sayo ignores that.

“Are you gonna see- Wait- Yukina! What are you doing?!” Sayo hears Lisa scream from the other side.

“I’ve gotta go, Yukina is trying to escape her house, I think she saw another cat.” Lisa says before hanging up on Sayo.

Ah yes, their band leader’s obvious love for cats makes her do crazy things. But is Sayo really that different when it comes to dogs? If this question were asked 2 years ago, Tsugumi would answer “No.” With fond laughter.

When Sayo snaps out of her thoughts, she looks up at where she ended up. _Hazawa Coffee_ , the sign reads.

Sayo panics and turns around to walk away when the door opens.

“Sayo-chan!” A voice calls out, and Sayo turns around involuntarily because it’s _her_ voice.

Tsugumi is there. Of course it’s her, it’s her cafe now and- why wouldn’t she be here? Tsugumi in that apron, in her white collared shirt. Sayo always loved seeing Tsugumi in that outfit.

“Welcome back!” She calls, and she’s smiling widely, like she is actually glad that Sayo is there, in front of her cafe, in Japan. 

Sayo’s happy that Tsugumi is happy to see her.

“I’m back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhhhh im- ANGST. *distorted electric guitar strum noises*


	2. we feel the same - but we don't feel the same.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> she's the most important person in her life, and she is to her. it's not in the same way anymore though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably the fastest i've written a chapter lmao.

“Are you sure about this?”

Tsugumi looks up at the people talking to her. Ran is looking at her worriedly, knowing how much it was hurting the girl. All of Afterglow knew how much Tsugumi loved Sayo.

But Tsugumi smiles, trying to calm her friends’ worry. “I’m sure. Sayo-chan has the Future World Fes. We decided that it would be better to not go long distance.”

“Ooh, how adult-like!” Himari says, trying to cheer the mood, and then she frowns, “But that doesn’t make it any less painful, does it?”

“Ahaha… I guess not. But I’ll move on eventually! And I’d rather see Sayo-chan reach for her dream rather than to give it all up just for me.” Tsugumi answers solemnly.

Tsugumi turns her head away from them. Because she knows that if she looks into their eyes any longer, she’ll burst into tears and start wishing for the impossible.

Surprisingly, her role as president of student council wasn’t as difficult as she’d expected it to be. When Hina had scouted her to be president, it was shocking- though everyone else around her says otherwise.

Maybe because Tsugumi almost always had to do Hina’s paperwork for her that it felt right to do this amount of work. 

Distracting herself from Sayo was so much easier too. When she kept her head in everything that was there, paperwork, band, studying.

It was a continuous cycle.

Paperwork. Band. Studying.

Paperwork. Band. Studying.

Paperwork. Band. Studying. 

She misses Sayo.

Paperwork? Band… Studying-

“T-Tsugumi-chan, I like you, please go out with me!”

Tsugumi, in her now alarmingly exhausted self, was being confessed to. Tsugumi knows her, she talks to her, they’re friends and this girl is also on the student council with her.

She wonders if this is the chance she can take to try and get over Sayo.

And then in that moment she knows that she’s barely gotten over her teal haired ex-girlfriend.

“You like me? Really?” Tsugumi asks, almost confused. If it were anyone else, like Ran, or Tomoe, her best friends with the most presence in Afterglow, or Moca and her interestingly enigmatic traits, or Himari, the amazingly adorable and cheery one of their group-

“Yes, really, I like you. Is that not good?”

“It’s - it’s fine. Could you please give me some time to respond?” Tsugumi asks the girl, who nods her head in response. “Sure! But please don’t keep me waiting too long.”

Tsugumi is left with a piece of paper in her hand, with the number of the girl who confessed to her.

And she stares at it for a long time. This could be her chance. But it feels wrong- going on a date when her heart belongs to someone else. 

A notification.

Her heart swells when she sees that the first tour for Roselia has gone well. She’s proud of Sayo- and everyone else in Roselia for making it so far.

They’re all moving forward, doing their best for the sake of their dreams.

And then Tsugumi realises that she’s still stuck in the past. Still thinking about what happened, the what if’s and what could happen.

It’s this reason that she calls the number to ask to meet her.

“Tsugumi-chan!”

Tsugumi looks up and smiles widely at her girlfriend of one month. “Welcome, Haru-chan!” she says, finishing up wiping down the table.

Haru bows down at Eve, “Eve-san, hello.” Eve grins widely, bowing in return, “Hello, Haru-san!”

Tsugumi gives Haru a hug, and leads her to a table, “Wait here, okay? My shift will be over soon, so I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Haru looks around, “Actually, can I sit there today?” She points at a table, slightly secluded and hidden, just by the windows. 

“Yeah, you can-” Tsugumi turns to see which area her girlfriend was pointing at.

_“Ah! Welcome Sayo-san! What would you like?”_

_“The usual- a slice of the cake you baked this week and a cup of black coffee.”_

_She sat in her usual seat, a slightly secluded and hidden area, just by the windows. She loved how calm and quiet the area was._

“Tsugumi-chan?” 

“Ah- yeah, sorry, would you like the usual?” Tsugumi snaps out of her thoughts, and shakes her head softly.

“The usual?” Haru asks inquisitively, and Tsugumi turns red from embarrassment.

Ah crap, she accidentally mistook Haru for Sayo. Haru hasn’t been in Hazawa Coffee for so long that she was a regular or having a ‘usual’.

“I- um, you’ve only ever ordered a soy latte- so-”

“Aah… Okay, then, I guess I’ll be having the usual then!” Tsugumi was glad that Haru didn’t pick up on her mistake.

Tsugumi sighs in relief and smiles bubbly, “One soy latte coming up, then!” Haru giggles at her enthusiasm and instinctively leaned forward to press a small peck on Tsugumi’s mouth.

Tsugumi can hear the gasp from Eve, and she turns red again. “H-Haru-chan?!” She asks, covering her mouth in shock.

Haru sheepishly laughs, and holds Tsugumi’s hand. “You’re just so cute!” She squeals, and hugs her.

Tsugumi shakes her head vehemently, “You tell me that, but you’re just as adorable- if not, then more!” She begins to giggle when Haru’s face turns red after being refuted.

“Boo, you’re kinda unfair, Tsugumi-chan…”

_Tsugumi thinks she’s seeing an angel, with how the light is coming down on her teal haired girlfriend. She really is… “Gorgeous…”_

_Sayo catches it, and turns red, bashfully turning red. “Are you sure you’re not talking about yourself?”_

_Tsugumi shakes her head, “I’m telling the truth! The light is shining down on you- and you’re honestly so gorgeous! You can be so cute too, like now, when you’re embarrassed.” She pokes fun at Sayo, who only turns more red._

_Tsugumi finds the sight endearing._

_“Mou… You can be kind of unfair sometimes, Tsugumi-san…”_

There it was again. Another sort of flashback. If this was a permanent fixture, Tsugumi wonders how on earth she’d ever get over Sayo.

Eventually, she supposes. Eventually.

Before she enters the kitchen, she looks out to the door, where she thought she heard the door open. But maybe it was just her imagination.

And she swears she caught teal hair by the corner of her eye, but the closer she looked, the more it was obvious that there was nothing there.

“I guess it was actually my imagination.”

After making the soy latte, she comes out and places the coffee on the table that used to be where Sayo frequented. “Here you are, Haru-chan!” She presents Haru with her coffee.

She watches as Haru brings the cup to her mouth, taking a sip. “Mmm~” Haru says, smiling widely, “It’s as great as always!” Tsugumi exhales in relief, bringing her hands to her chest, “I’m glad!”

“Tsugu!” The sound of the door opens loudly, it being slammed open.

“R-Ran-chan!?” Tsugumi’s posture straightens, and she immediately runs to her panting friends side. “W-w-what’s wrong? What happened!?”

Ran takes a moment to catch her breath. When she calms, Moca enters the room, looking slightly alarmed too, but a lot more lax than how Ran is acting.

“Sayo-san.” Ran says.

Tsugumi’s eyes widen. “She was here.” Tsugumi finishes off for her. Moca drawls, “Yeahhh, we saw her walking in the cafe’s direction so we figured she’d come here~”

But as she eyes Haru, the tips of her mouth go down slightly, “But seeing as Haru-chin is here~ she must have run awaaaay~” She shakes her head, almost pensively.

Tsugumi doesn’t know what kind of expression she had on. She looks at the confused Haru, the troubled Ran, and the uncharacteristically pensive Moca-

And without thinking, she takes off. She ignores Ran’s shouts, and Haru’s bewildered call. 

She runs around the entirety of downtown- looking for her.

She doesn’t find her.

And the dread that fills her- she doesn’t like it.

Tsugumi knows now, that absolutely, being in love with love, right now, will only bring her pain.

“I’m sorry, Haru-chan.”

“No. It’s okay. I’ve… seen this coming.”

It wasn’t long after her conclusion that she came to Haru to break up with her. 

Tsugumi looks up in confusion, “You have?”

Haru nods her head, despite being asked if they could break up, she still looks happy per usual. “I mean- no one could really compare to THE Hikawa Sayo, could they when it comes to your love.”

Tsugumi frowns, “I… I’m working on moving on from her.”

“It’s okay! Honestly, our relationship took longer than I thought it would. And I’m really just glad to have dated you in the first place.” Haru answers, sheepishly.

“Though…” Haru opens her arms, “One last hug?” she asks, and Tsugumi immediately accepts, embracing her tightly.

“I’m actually so sorry.” Tsugumi mumbles, “I like you… But…”

“It’s okay.”

‘ _Roselia’s charming guitarist finally moved on from her first love?_ ’

When Tsugumi reads this page, she’s hit with a wave of curiosity. It’s been two years - how could they assume that Sayo hadn’t been dating within that time?

She opens the article and the picture of Sayo and a rather lustrous woman kissing. Instinctively, Tsugumi looks down at her own chest, wondering if Sayo was ever disappointed by the size of her boobs.

Tsugumi immediately dismisses the thought. Sayo isn’t like that! She never loves a person from their appearances alone.

The more she reads the article, the longer she realises that- 

She’s not really heartbroken over this.

In fact, she’s actually proud of Sayo. She managed to get a girlfriend- who was just as gorgeous as herself, and Roselia is as popular as ever!

She’s happy for Sayo, that she was able to chase her dream, grab it, and made her sound more prominent than ever.

Truly.

* * *

Sayo sits at her usual table, the nostalgia starting to hit her hard. The smell of coffee always calms her- especially in this certain environment, with Tsugumi brewing coffee for her.

Though- where are her parents?

She stands up and looks around, it’s late now, so the cafe is closed, so there aren’t any patrons. When she walks to the counter, Tsugumi looks at her, slightly surprised at her now sitting by the counter.

“...Have you inherit this cafe already?” Sayo asks, watching the girl’s trained movements. Tsugumi’s hands still a moment, a little surprised by the question, but continues with the process.

“Aah well… yeah, I’d actually become owner two months ago!” She admits, cheeks pinkening at the admission. “It doesn’t even feel real yet- that I, me, own this amazing place.”

The smell of fresh coffee invades Sayo’s sense of smell. It’s a lot more pleasant, than she remembers and then Tsugumi is pouring the coffee into their cups.

“Enjoy, Sayo-chan!” Tsugumi says, sporting a wide, bubbly smile, pushing the cup toward her.

Sayo holds the cup, relishing in how familiar the scene felt. Where Tsugumi was her server, and she, the customer. Tsugumi would wait and watch Sayo’s reaction- to see if she’d done a good job, and be praised for it.

And finally, she brings the cup to her lips, letting the liquid go down her throat. When she pulls the cup away, she finds herself smiling. “It’s amazing, Tsugumi. It seems you’ve gotten much better at brewing coffee- I can only imagine how great your cakes must taste.”

“You don’t have to imagine-” The oven dings, and Tsugumi turns her head, mumbling, “just in time!” When she opens the oven, the smell of something sweet- the contrast of caramel, and the bitter coffee and a hint of… cinnamon maybe? 

After putting on mittens, she pulls out the tray, and places it on the kitchen table. She places the cake on a separate plate, using the icing to decorate the cake, and finally, cutting the cake into 8 equal pieces.

“Ta-da~ It’s a caramel crumb coffee cake!” She calls out from the kitchen, when she knows that Sayo can see the cake. “And there's some cinnamon in here too- like a secret ingredient.”

She pulls a piece out on a smaller plate, and a fork- and places it in front of Sayo. “It’s my signature cake! I actually made it with you in mind, hehe…” Tsugumi says, bashfully.

Sayo feels her face heat up. “You…”

“Anyway! Try it! Himari-chan says that it tastes even better with coffee- so it should taste extra good!”

Sayo takes a bite from the cake. She hums in appreciation, “Oh, It’s absolutely splendid.” Sayo sighs into the taste, it really was great. Over the past 2 years it’d become apparent that Tsugumi had improved in her skills immensely.

“Really? That’s a relief.” Tsugumi sighs, “I was actually nervous about you trying it- your opinion means a lot to me, after all.”

“Fufu~ Well, this is really nice- enough for me to want to visit again.”

Tsugumi’s smile that follows after warms Sayo’s heart. “That’s good, then!” and she puts the lid on the rest of the cake. 

Sayo continues to eat her slice of the cake and watches Tsugumi clean the kitchen. She can hear Tsugumi humming to ‘Sun-kissed Rhodonite’. Sayo knows that the song is Tsugumi’s favourite Roselia song- with how sincere it is in Yukina’s affection to Lisa- that she finds it sweet.

When Tsugumi has finished cleaning the table, she sits next to Sayo and watches her finish the last bites of the cake.

“Thank you for the cake, Tsugumi. It truly tasted amazing.” Sayo says..

“You’re welcome, Sayo-chan. I’m just glad you liked it!” Tsugumi responds, leaning her head on her hand, looking a little exhausted after the day’s events.

Sayo coughs, a little embarrassed at the thought but still asks, “If you’d like…” Sayo gestures to her shoulder, “You could lie on my shoulder since you seem tired.”

Tsugumi blinks owlishly at the offer, before her face softens to another smile. “I’d like that.” She whispers, affectionately, and lies her head on Sayo’s shoulder, fitting herself into the crook of her neck, and sighs.

Instinctively, Sayo extends her left arm to hold onto Tsugumi’s shoulder, rubbing it softly for warmth. It seems to be the right move as Tsugumi sighs once more and snuggles even closer to Sayo. “Somehow, you’re so warm, even if you feel cool in summer.”

Sayo laughs breathily. “Perhaps it’s just your exhaustion thinking that. Shall I walk you home soon?” She asks gently, looking at the younger girl fondly.

She missed this intimacy she had with Tsugumi.

“No, it’s okay… I’ll just wait until you finish your coffee so I can clean it up and finally close the shop.” The girl's voice was obviously laced with exhaustion.

Sayo frowns at what Tsugumi says and quickly polishes off the coffee. At this point, Tsugumi has already fallen asleep. Sayo stands from her chair- as quietly and gently as possible so that Tsugumi doesn’t wake up.

She grabs her plate and cup and enters the kitchen- finding that the kitchen hasn't really changed during the 2 years she was away. With this, she washes her dishes and puts them back to where they belonged.

When Sayo comes back, Tsugumi is staring at her, evidently a little upset, “You should have woken me up.”

“You deserved to have some rest. You seemed really tired.” Sayo argues back, a little meek because she’s not used to Tsugumi being upset to her- or well, upset in general.

Tsugumi whines, standing up, “Still…”

Sayo sighs, “It’s pointless to have this argument when it has already been done.” She reaches out to Tsugumi’s arm to pulls her toward the exit. “Let’s close shop. I’ll walk you home.”

Tsugumi looks up at her, tired eyes shining. “You’re as kind as I remember.” Sayo’s stares back into the eyes of the woman she loves. “...I disagree with that. I’m not kind at all.” _Not when I still cannot move on from you._

_...I’m truly selfish._

The walk to Tsugumi’s home was full of stories, and way too short.

Her parents had bought Tsugumi her own house- not too far from Hazawa Coffee- on her graduation day when Tsugumi had asked in an attempt to be independent.

“Once, Ran-chan and Moca-chan came over trying to hide from Tomoe-chan because they were playing hide and seek.”

“Really- they took a children’s game seriously?”

“Yeah!” Tsugumi giggles, face pinkening at the memory. “I remember Tomoe-chan coming over and the three looked like they were practicing for a race with how fast they ran.”

Sayo’s cheeks hurt from smiling, Tsugumi’s smile was much too contagious. “I’m glad to see that Afterglow is… what was it, ‘same as always’?”

Tsugumi nods her head, smiling fondly at her memories of her friends. “Ever since graduation, though, everyone has been busy, having gone to different colleges and all.” And the smile gets a little sad.

“Ran-chan is studying flower arrangements, following in her father's footsteps even if she initially rebelled against him.” Tsugumi spoke greatly about her friends.

“Moca-chan is as mysterious as ever, and we speculate that she has a full-time job now because she buys even more bread than ever!” She says. “Though, it doesn’t make sense that we see her everywhere still… Maybe we still need to work on that theory.” Tsugumi hums, crossing her arms in thought.

“And Himari-chan and Tomoe-chan are travelling the world right now! I heard Tomoe-chan was going to propose to her when they reached Paris! Aah… It sounds so romantic…” Tsugumi swoons, clasping her hands together. Tsugumi looks forward and sees the familiar place.

“Ah! It’s my house.” Tsugumi calls out, and runs to the gates of her place. She places her hand on the gate and turns to Sayo, “As for me, I’m studying business. For Hazawa Coffee, of course.”

Tsugumi sighs, and looks up at her house with determination. “I want to be able to make Hazawa Coffee grow.”

Sayo stares at the girl, feeling her heart pound at the determination. This unfamiliar side of Tsugumi somehow makes her heart race and stomach churn.

“An admirable goal. I’m sure you’ll be able to succeed with your endeavour.” Sayo answers, standing next to Tsugumi, and giving the push to the gate to open it. Tsugumi looks up at her, surprised.

The brunette's lips quirk up again, “...Thank you, Sayo-chan.” Sayo walks Tsugumi to her door.

“This is goodbye, I assume.” Sayo says, “For now.” She adds for good measure.

Tsugumi nods her head, “Until next time, when you visit my cafe again!” She answers, excited at the idea of Sayo visiting the cafe again.

Sayo nods her head, “Since Roselia is on a hiatus, you’ll have to get used to seeing me in your cafe for 3 months.”

“That would be really good!” Tsugumi answers, her bubbly nature melting Sayo’s heart yet again. “But before you leave…”

Sayo looks at her inquisitively. “What’s wrong?” She asks.

“Before… when we were at the shop, you looked like you wanted to tell me something… But you think you can’t tell me.” Tsugumi says, frowning, reaching for Sayo’s shoulder to rub it comfortingly.

Sayo blinks. Right, she forgot how well Tsugumi could read her.

The teal haired guitarist sighs, rubbing her forehead with the palm of her hand to calm down the incoming stress. She didn’t want to tell Tsugumi so fast, but it seems she didn’t have much of a choice anymore.

“And if me telling you this could burden you?” Sayo asks. “What then?”

Tsugumi shakes her head, “I doubt that what’s troubling you could trouble me either. And if it does- then we can bear the burden together!”

Sayo looks down at Tsugumi, who is determined to help her ex again. And she inhales, heart pounding fast in her chest.

“I’m still in love with you, Tsugumi.”

  
  


“Aah…” Tsugumi’s eyes widen in shock.

“I’m sorry Sayo-chan. I…” She looks down, definitely troubled by the new information.

Sayo shakes her head, “No. I know. You’ve moved on already. I knew that.” It was true. She knew that her affection for Tsugumi lasting 2 years was unnatural, so it was an intellectual guess that Tsugumi would not share the same feelings.

Though of course, even if she knew beforehand, having complete confirmation of that still makes her heart ache. 

“I’m… really sorry.” Tsugumi apologises again, bowing her head down, face clearly desperate for Sayo to forgive her- even if Sayo never really antagonised her in the first place.

“I know. I’m sorry for telling you this.” Sayo bows in return, mouth pursing to try and hide her heartache. 

Tsugumi flounders about, shaking her head vehemently, “It’s okay! Really. I’m the one who can’t reciprocate anymore, so…” She trails off at the end of the sentence.

The silence prolongs for a moment, Sayo refusing to look at Tsugumi, embarrassed.

“I… I shall go now.” Sayo says, and then walks away, knowing that Tsugumi is still staring after her - probably because of the guilt that’s eating her up.

“Onee-chaaaaaan~~!”

“Hina!” Sayo is forced to fend off a flying Hina when she arrives home. “You’re home as well? Is Pastel*Palettes on a hiatus too?” She wonders outloud, and is met with laughter.

“Haha, no onee-chan. I ran away!” Hina laughs, like saying that is completely normal. Sayo raises her brow at that response, and crosses her arms.

“What do you mean you ran away!?” Sayo asks loudly, completely bewildered to how her twin sister is so crazy.

Hina whines, “I mean~ The agency wouldn’t let us go on a mini vacation- And I really wanted to see you again!” She grins, jumping back but clearly bursting with energy.

“We saw each other in South Korea and you forced us to have a joint concert.” Sayo deadpans, remembering the event like it was just the day before.

Sayo sighs, but she pats her sisters head, looking at her fondly. “I don’t want to be held responsible when you deal with the consequences later.”

Hina’s eyes twinkle, “Don’t worry, I brought everyone else! This is gonna be boppin’!” 

“Right, right… Wait - you guys are boycotting?!”

“Oh woooow~” Lisa whistles, looking at the interior of the bar. “I’ve never been in here before, but it’s actually not that bad!” 

Sayo looks around too, impressed, but not as openly as Lisa. The bar has always been here, but they had still been minors when they went on world tours.

“It’s definitely impressive.” Yukina comments, “Perhaps we should come here again when we’re not busy. Or everytime everyone's schedules are free in our hiatus.”

Lisa laughs, “Geez, Yukina- aren’t you a little too eager for this? I knew I shouldn’t have introduced you and Sayo to alcohol, you’re both turning alcoholic!”

Sayo turns red, “I’m not an alcoholic…” she mumbles, albeit weakly upon remembering how often she came to the bars in America.

“Yes you are, Sayo-san! You don’t know how much gaming time I had to sacrifice because you were dead drunk in a bar!” Ako huffs, though she was mostly amused every time she saw the stoic sayo become a sappy, mushy, drunk mess.

Sayo sputters, but sighs, “Let’s just get a seat already.” She ignores Rinko’s quiet giggles.

“Since we’re in Japan and all, let’s get something more traditional!” Lisa cheers, as the others sit at the table.

“That’s fine, but Ako, you’re getting orange juice.” Yukina decides calmly.

“Wha- aww man…” Ako pouts, huffing. “Could I at least get blueberry juice instead?”

Sayo stares amusedly at the youngest of their band whilst Lisa stands to ask the bartender for their chosen drinks. It’s not long before Lisa is back with 3 bottles of sake.

“Are you trying to get us drunk, Lisa-san?” Sayo deadpans, eyeing the amount of bottles she had brought back. Lisa laughs, and places cups in front of each girl.

“No.” She answers, and continues, “But I know either you or Yukina will finish an entire bottle, so I bought another in case hahaha~.”

Sayo sighs, but smiles anyway. She grabs a bottle and looks at Lisa, “Bring your cup over, Lisa-san. Let me pour you a drink.” Lisa’s eyes widen in surprise, but brings her cup, watching as Sayo fills it to the brim.

Sayo stares over at Ako’s envy filled expression, “Fufu, Ako-san, it’s okay. After you graduate, we can go to Australia so you can drink. And I’ll pay for it.”

“Really?” Ako’s back straightens, “You better not forget that, Sayo-san! Because I won’t!” And she chugs down her blueberry juice, excited. “I can’t wait for my exams to be over..!”

Lisa looks at Sayo in disappointment. “I can’t believe you.” She says, with faux annoyance. “You’re gonna be turning _Ako_ into an alcoholic at this rate!” She huffs, crossing her arms.

Yukina crosses her arms in turn, “It can’t be helped. Ako has tasted the delicacy of liquor. Who are we to take away what is delicious for a person? Like for you, Lisa, it’d be like taking chikuzenni away when New Years comes.”

She takes a sip out of the sake, and looks into Lisa’s eyes.

Lisa stares back.

It’s only within moments that they both start laughing. “Hahaha, leave it to Yukina to say that kind of thing in this situation.” Lisa comments, wiping away a tear from laughing too hard.

“As expected of Yukina-san!” Ako calls out, just as starry-eyed as the day she asked Yukina if she could become a drummer for Roselia. 

Everyone laughs at Ako’s input.

It’s in moments like this, where they’re together and carefree - just as they’ve always been. Where they can talk without thinking too hard about things that stress them, or can bare their hearts to each other because they know that everyone in Roselia can be relied on.

Sayo loves these moments.

Especially when these moments help her forget.

The alarm rings in the silence of the room, piercing Sayo’s head. She immediately winces and reaches up to rub her temples. “Ah…” She sighs, shaking her head at how foolish she was. “I forgot to drink water before drinking alcohol again.”

It’s tempting to stay in bed because of her headache, but she knows that to be productive, she has to get out of her comfort zone. Quite literally too.

Upon entering the kitchen, she sees Hina, on her phone and drinking a cup of water. Hina looks up when she hears Sayo’s footsteps, “Ah- Good morning onee-chan!” Hina says, grinning widely.

The volume only serves to amplify Sayo’s headache. “Hina.” Sayo replies, smiling weakly and looking through the cupboard. “Do we have any ibuprofen?” She asks, even if she’s searching already.

Hina hums, “We should have some left. Did you drink a lot again? Lisa-chi keeps telling me how you’re an alcoholic now.” She skips over to Sayo’s side to help look for the ibuprofen.

“Here it is.” Sayo mumbles, pulling out a packet and taking out a tablet and quickly swallowing it. Sayo resents that they don’t take effect immediately. “If Lisa-san tells you that again, tell her that she’s being overdramatic.”

Hina laughs in response, “Yeah sure, I’ll tell her that.” And watches curiously as Sayo sits and groans about her hangover.

“You wanna get some coffee with me, onee-chan?” Hina asks, and then beams, “we could go to Hazawa Coffee! I haven’t seen Tsugu-chin in a while~”

Sayo purses her lips. She hadn’t gone since that one night. It’s too embarrassing after confessing and then getting rejected.

But… It couldn’t hurt just to come again.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

And so she found herself being dragged downtown to Hazawa Coffee.

“Welcome - Ah, Sayo-chan, Hina-senpai! Hello!”

“Tsugu-chin!!” In a mere second, Hina unlatches herself from Sayo and launches herself at Tsugumi, causing the girl to flusteredly catch her. 

“H-Hina senpai!” Even after 2 years of being with the girl, Sayo can tell that Tsugumi is still not used to Hina’s antics.

“Hina.” She calls out, causing her younger sister to turn curiously, “Don’t be rude.” Sayo huffs, and proceeds to sit at the counter. 

Hina nuzzles her cheek to Tsugumi’s neck, and Sayo furrows her brows at the sight. She, too, is not used to how close Hina and Tsugumi were. It’s not any different to their school years where Hina would instinctively cling to Tsugumi.

But it’s fine. Hina has Aya now, and Tsugumi…

Well, Tsugumi isn’t her girlfriend anyways, so there is no problem even if Hina were to cling to Tsugumi in a more than platonic direction.

Hina takes the seat next to hers and Tsugumi walks to the back of the counter. “It’s a quiet day today, so I let my workers take the day off! Though the next shift is fast approaching so I should take your orders now.”

Sayo looks at Hina, to see if she’ll order anything. “Mmm.” Hina hums, “Can I get the menu then?” She asks. Tsugumi nods her head and turns to Sayo, “Is it the usual for you, Sayo-chan?” She asks.

Sayo’s heart swells at the thought that Tsugumi still remembers her usual order. “Yes. Thank you, Tsugumi.” She answers, smiling softly at the younger girl.

It makes Sayo curious. How even if Tsugumi doesn’t harbour any more feelings for her- she still blushes whenever Sayo smiles at her. That she pulls the tray closer to her chest upon hearing Sayo’s tone soften. Smile widening when Sayo talks to her with her full attention.

“Okay! I’ll be back with the menu!” Tsugumi says, and walks away, humming.

Hina watches her leave with an obvious intensity, and Sayo looks at Hina in disapproval. Sayo opens her mouth to tell her off.

But then Hina turns to Sayo so fast she swear she could hear her neck snap. The intensity of Hina’s gaze is now on Sayo and it makes her feel uncomfortable.

“Hina?” She asks, crossing her arms to maintain her composure. “Are you okay? You’ve been acting weird when Tsugumi left.”

Hina leans back on her seat and purses her lips. “Mouu I don’t get it!” She yells, but not loud enough to disturb any of the other patrons- thank God.

“You don’t get what?”

“You and Tsugu-chin!” 

Sayo turns red. Has Hina caught on already? It’s only been a mere few minutes and she’s already blown her cover. So much for pretending that Tsugumi rejected her.

“Here’s the menu Hina-senpai! And your black coffee, Sayo-chan” Tsugumi returns with the menu and coffee, and Hina looks at her gratefully, “Thanks Tsugu-chin! Hey, wait, stay here for a second.”

Tsugumi looks at Hina curiously, and Sayo stares at her twin sister, eyes widened, engulfed in fear with what she is going to say- and it will definitely be embarrassing.

Hina groans as she looks at Sayo - then to Tsugumi, then back to Sayo. “Urggghh, this isn’t really boppin’ at all! I thought bringing onee-chan here would make some sort of heart-touching reunion!”

“Oh.” Sayo says, and shakes her head. “No, we’ve already met up with each other.” She answers simply, and sips her coffee, eyes narrowing at Hina, still on guard with what she’d say.

Hina groans again, “That’s so not interesting though~ I mean you guys are so clearly in love with each other yet you aren’t acting as lovey dovey as 2 years ago~”

Sayo sighs, her entire face heating up in embarrassment. She slaps her face and groans the loudest she’s ever done.

“Hina.”

“Yes, onee-chan?”

“Just… stop.”

Tsugumi laughs awkwardly at the display, and looks away. “I’ll… I’ll go get your cake, Sayo-chan. In the meantime you can choose your order, Hina-senpai.” And walks away.

Hina is left confused, not knowing whether to look at Tsugumi’s awkwardness or at Sayo’s clearly uncomfortable expression.

“Did I… say something wrong?” she asks, frowning.

“You…!” Sayo almost outbursts, but decides against it in the last second. She sighs and rubs her temples in frustration.

“I told you we met up.” Sayo says, looking down. “In that time we met up, I confessed to her.” And looks away.

“She rejected me.” The admission still brings pain in her chest.

Hina’s softly gasps. “Onee-chan… I…”

Sayo inhales deeply, and then continues. “She doesn’t harbour any feelings for me anymore. That’s why we are not dating.”

Hina’s eyes droop and she looks like she’ll burst into tears. “But… Tsugu-chin looked at you like- like you are the most zappin’ person in her life! She was going all boppin’ and-” 

“That’s because she is.”

Sayo and Hina turn their heads to see Tsugumi standing out of sight from both of them. Sayo sees her standing in place, and Sayo feels like Tsugumi might start crying.

“Tsugumi.” Sayo says, and Tsugumi comes and places the red velvet cake in front of Sayo.

“Sorry, Sayo-chan. I couldn’t help but listen in.” And lets out another awkward laugh and steps back.

She takes a deep breath and looks Hina in the eye. “Hina-senpai. Sayo-chan _is_ the most important person in my life.”

Tsugumi brings her hands together, fingers fiddling nervously, “I love her lots, but it’s not in a romantic light anymore...” she admits.

Tsugumi sighs, and smiles, turning to look at Sayo. “I’m just… proud that she grew up to be the person she is today.”

Tsugumi laughs awkwardly one last time, “Ahaha… I’m sorry, that’s quite embarrassing to admit, isn’t it?” She says, looking at Hina.

“No, not at all… Thank you, Tsugumi.” Sayo smiles gently, and Tsugumi’s flushes again.

“A-Anyway, Hina-senpai! Please tell me you know what you want to get.” Tsugumi turns to Hina who is now looking through the menu.

“Just a sec, okay! Urgghhhhh… I’ll have the same as onee-chan!” Hina ends up deciding, and Sayo laughs quietly, covering her mouth with her hand, “Was there any point in getting the menu then?” She mumbles to herself.

“Okay then, I’ll be back with your cake in no time!” Tsugumi announces and gets ready to leave.

“Wait, Tsugumi.” Sayo stops her, just like Hina did earlier. Tsugumi turns around again, and smiles patiently. Sayo commends her, if she’d been in her situation, she would have snapped by now. “What’s wrong, Sayo-chan?”

Sayo sits back in her chair and hums, “I was just wondering… It’s been two years and I’m not quite sure if Hazawa Coffee still does this…”

Tsugumi nods her head, urging Sayo to continue. “Do you still do baking lessons? I would love to attend, if that is the case.” She finishes, cheeks burning.

“Oh! Is that so! Well, we actually have lessons this Friday! Which I think is in two day? Today is Wednesday, right?” Tsugumi says, “If you have time, then you should come! It’s after college so it starts around 4pm.”

Sayo nods her head in affirmation, “Really? Which college do you go to again? I could pick you up, if you’d like.” She offers, taking her phone out to type the event on her calendar.

Tsugumi beams, “Really? I’d love to take up that offer.” Her smile starts to become nervous, “Well actually, I go to Todai.” 

Sayo pauses in her movements. “Really?” She looks up at her crush. “That’s amazing, Tsugumi. _You’re_ amazing. Todai is hard to get into.” Sayo starts to feel proud for the younger girl.

“T-thank you Sayo-chan, but I’m sure that if you or Hina enrolled, you would have made it in easily. It’s nothing compared to you guys.” Tsugumi shakes her head, blushing.

“Nonsense.” Sayo shakes her head. “Don’t sell yourself short, Tsugumi. The acceptance rate at Todai is supposedly really low. You should be proud of yourself.”

Tsugumi grins happily. “If Sayo-chan says so, then I have no choice than to believe so.”

Hina looks between the two. “Huh? What’s with this really flirty mood?” She grins, “What happened to choosing when or how to pick Tsugu-chin up?”

Sayo scowls. She can’t believe _Hina_ of all people just put them back on track.

“Right.” She coughs into her fist. “Todai is relatively far from here. It should take me 30 minutes or more to get there and the same time back. What time do your classes end?”

“Around 2.”

“Okay. Then I’ll leave at quarter past one.” 

“Great! I’ll see you there, then Sayo-chan!”

“Hey… Is that?”

“I think it is… Should we go talk to her?”

Sayo frowns. She really should have brought a face mask. Sometimes she forgets that Roselia is especially popular in Japan.

Though it would be harder on Tsugumi to find her if she wore a disguise, so maybe it’s better this way.

“Excuse me!” A girl calls out, and Sayo turns her head instinctively in response to that.

“May I help you?” Sayo asks, and looks at the girls eyes scanning her features, making her uncomfortable. “Um… Miss…” she mumbles.

“A-are you Hikawa Sayo? From Roselia?” The girl asks, almost meekly. “Because I’m a big fan! And um, can you sign this please?”

Sayo’s eyebrows raise when the girl holds out one of Roselia’s cds and a marker. Hesitantly she grabs the cd and marker and begins to sign.

“Say, miss, what’s your name.” Sayo asks, her signature now on the CD. She doesn’t close the marker yet.

“It’s Akari!” She answers, beaming. Sayo writes ‘to akari’, and then passes the CD back to her. “Do you always hold onto our CDs?” She asks amusedly.

Akari giggles, face flushing, “Well, no, when I heard the Roselia was on hiatus, I was hoping you were coming back to Japan. I’ve been holding onto it so that if I saw one of you I’d ask for an autograph hehe.”

“Oh. Well it’s good that I came here, then.”

Akari eventually leaves with vigorous bowing, CD clutched closely to her chest. Sayo waves back, glad that she could make a fan of her smile so happily.

“You really are as kind as you were, Sayo-chan.” Tsugumi says, from behind Sayo, who turns around.

Sayo’s expression softens unknowingly. “Tsugumi.” She says. “You were here?” She asks, walking closer to the brunette.

Tsugumi laughs, “Of course! There was so much buzz about a celebrity being at the front of my Uni, _everyone_ came to check things out. There’s no way I couldn’t be here.”

“Speaking of which- why aren’t you wearing a disguise, Sayo-chan?” Tsugumi frowns in disappointment. “I know you aren’t the type who likes the attention.” She scolds.

Sayo looks away, “Sorry…” She says, suddenly sullen. Tsugumi sighs, but grins. “I’m not angry, Sayo-chan. I just thought you would be uncomfortable with everyone staring at you.”

The two start walking toward Sayo’s car. “I assumed that wearing a disguise would make it harder for you to find me.” She explains, and then opens the passenger seat, letting Tsugumi in before closing the door.

She walks to the driver's seat and opens the door, and enters, before continuing. “Was it not easier to find me?”

Tsugumi shakes her head, and looks fondly at the girl. The brunette reaches her hand out and pats Sayo’s head. “...You’re so nice.” The action makes Sayo blush, and force her gaze on the road.

Sayo starts driving back.

“Okay, let me get the kitchen ready first before we start.” Tsugumi tells Sayo, “Just stay here for that time.” Sayo nods her head, and watches as Tsugumi enters the kitchen to talk to the employees.

“We have around an hour before customers come for the lesson.” Tsugumi tells them, “We need at least one of everything we need on each kitchen table, okay?”

There is a chorus of “okayyy”, but the staff don’t move yet.

Tsugumi is humming, crossing her arms with a hand on her chin- her habit when she’s thinking - whether of new recipes or ideas.

“Today we’ll make…” Tsugumi shoots a meaningful look at Sayo. “a cake. My caramel crumble coffee cake.”

Tsugumi smiles when she catches Sayo staring at her. And then faces her staff again, “We’ll form 3 groups this time, so split yourselves evenly, okay?”

“Okayy” is chorused again, and Tsugumi nods her head. “I’ll be doing this with someone, so don’t worry about me.”

The sound of chatter outside gets louder and everyone looks to the door to see a considerable amount of people already outside. “Okay, let’s start.”

Tsugumi approaches Sayo as the door is opened. “Come on Sayo-chan. I’ll explain the instructions to everyone first and then we can work on the cake together.” And holds onto Sayo’s hand to guide her to the kitchen.

Sayo watches, in awe, as Tsugumi so confidently tells the staff and customers instructions on how to make the cake.

She writes the instructions on the board in precise yet easy steps and breaks them down just as easily so that everyone can understand exactly what the instructions mean.

If the current Tsugumi was her instructor years ago when they’d first begun to talk, Sayo imagines that she would have made the iced cookies in her first lesson with ease.

It’s been years since Sayo has seen Tsugumi.

She’s grown. Matured. Tsugumi isn’t the same adorable teenager she had been before. She has become a woman who can be independant. Not as self-destructive as before.

Sayo can feel herself falling in love again - with even this new part of Tsugumi, her heart swelling with affection. She is being hit with the never-ending proud feeling she has for Tsugumi whenever she does great things.

Tsugumi finishes explaining things and comes back to Sayo. “Okay, Sayo-chan! I’ve finished talking with everyone. We can start making our cake now.” She says, the wide smile ever so present.

Sayo, now so enraptured, can barely nod with how much affection she is starting to feel for this girl.

As she watches Tsugumi, her passionate self that Sayo had fallen for - is still just as attractive as years ago. 

It’s in this moment that Sayo decides - she can’t give up on Tsugumi just yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was actually going to be waaaaay longer, but i just kept typing and typing and before i knew it, i'd already reached 6k words.... so i had to split it lol


	3. im absolutely enamoured by you. do you really not feel the same?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which sayo and tsugumi hang out even more

She loves her. She really _does_.

When Tsugumi notices Sayo staring at her, she’s brought back to the issue of her ex-girlfriend still in love with her. She was… hoping she could have avoided this outcome.

Tsugumi clearly remembers the feeling of falling in love. It’s the heart pounding feeling, the feeling that one would want to stay together forever with another.

It’s the feeling of her heart filling. Her days being so much better even with just the _thought_ of the other person. And it’s even better when she sees the other person. Talks to her. Touches her. It’s like flying - a euphoric feeling - an adrenaline rush. She could never get enough of it.

It’s so lovely - loving a person.

And guilt fills her.

This… What she feels for Sayo right now - _isn’t_ her being _in love_ with her.

She loves her. She really does. But it’s not the same as Sayo’s love.

Sayo is her favourite person.

Sayo’s achievements make her heart swell. It makes her proud to know someone as amazing as Sayo. She’s comfortable around her and she’d love to see Sayo doing well - amazing _forever_.

But this… must be like a mother to a daughter. A sister to her other sister.

It’s not love, it _can’t_ be - when love is _supposed_ to sweep her off her feet. 

Like in a shoujo manga.

So that means Tsugumi is not in love with Sayo.

(...Right?)

* * *

Sayo leaves Hazawa Coffee with a determined mindset and a box of her now favourite cake; the caramel crumble coffee cake.

It’s still stuck in her mind, the way that Tsugumi had complimented her baking skills - at being able to bake the cake precisely when in reality, it was the way that Tsugumi had explained, so patient, gentle and easy that allowed Sayo to bake the cake properly.

Sayo arrives home that night, head cleared with the realisation that falling out of love with Tsugumi is even harder now that she’d approached her and found out about this matured side of Tsugumi.

“Onee-chan!” HIna pops up in her room. Sayo looks up, surprised by the sudden appearance of her sister. The younger Hikawa tilts her head in confusion. “Why do you look so surprised?”

Sayo exhales, “Ah… sorry, there was something on my mind. Did you need something?”

HIna hums, staring at her curiously for a moment before nodding her head and pulling out her guitar from seemingly nowhere. “Yep! I was hoping we could play together!” She says, eyes twinkling at the idea.

Sayo purses her lips and eyes her guitar. “Yes, we can. I was actually thinking about practising soon.” she says, and reaches for her guitar. Hina cheers and enters the room as Sayo starts to tune her guitar.

“What are we gonna play?” Hina asks hyperactively, bouncing around in her seat.

Her energy starts to make Sayo feel tired, though she answers, “I’ve been wanting to play one of your songs actually. How about Shuwain Dreaming?” 

Hina gasps, “That’s definitely OK with me~” 

Sayo nods her head, “Whenever you’re ready, Hina.” She gestures for Hina to start, who immediately looks down at her guitar.

She plays the intro - and Sayo follows along.

The ending of PASSIONATE ANTHEM rings out in the air.

Sayo exhales, and wipes her brow from the sweat that has gathered. She watches Lisa give a bottle of water to the bandmates.

“Here~ Sayo~ Don’t wear yourself out, okay?” LIsa says, handing her the bottle of water. Sayo bows her head slightly, “Thank you Lisa-san.” She says before uncapping the bottle and drinking.

“That was a pretty good session, wasn’t it?” Lisa tells the group, and Yukina nods her head, “Yes. It was good. Though, Ako.”

Sayo could hear Ako say “geh” behind her and she turns around to watch the scene.

“You lost your tempo at the second verse.” Ako slumps sullenly. 

“And Lisa.”

Lisa’s expression changes from amusement to terror, “Y-Yes?” She asks, shrinking slightly.

Yukina smiles, which makes Lisa relax slightly. “You’re improving. Good job.” She compliments and Lisa croons, “Awwwww Yukinaaaa~”

Ako whines, “Yukina-san is totally biased towards Lisa-nee.” and Rinko giggles quietly at that response.

“Though… I did notice Lisa-san… has been doing well lately…” Rinko says, and Ako crosses her arms in indignation. She looks like she’ll complain but decides against it.

But then she poses, “But of course! Lisa-nee is our…” she hums, ”Our mighty paladin… The only one who can tame our sinister sorceress…” Ako pauses, and eyes light up, “ _voiceress_!” She yells, looking proud of herself.

Rinko’s smile widens, “Like a sorceress who uses magic with her voice.”

Ako nods her head repeatedly, “Yeah, yeah! Because Yukina-san is amazing so her voice would be sought from all over the world! Like a rare ability or something!”

Rinko watches as Ako continues to ramble about “she could shout and it would summon a gust that affects those in line of fire and the shockwave would make the earth shake violently.”

Lisa laughs at the idea, “That might work~” She says, putting her hand to her chin in contemplation. “Mm, I definitely see Yukina being some sort of rare… what was it, _voiceress_?” 

“Lisa. Ako. Rinko. Don’t talk about unnecessary things and focus.” Yukina says.

“Wait, don’t stop them, Yukina-san. I want to hear where this goes.” Sayo cuts in suddenly, surprising the group. “The idea of you to be a… _voiceress,_ one who... brings the world to its knees with merely her voice seems like a rather fitting role.”

“Oohh! Sayo-san, that’s so cool!” Ako exclaims in awe, eyes twinkling. She poses, the atmosphere, growing dark and eerie.

“Thou shalt face the wrath of the ferocious _voiceress_. She who brings the world to its knees with her powerful voice! Those who are subjected to the Voice - that’s the name of her ability, no take backs! - shall perish in its… uh…”

Ako falters, and it’s almost a trained comedy routine with how easily Rinko follows up with, “immense intensity…”

“Perish in its immense intensity! Yeah!” 

“Enough.” Yukina says, though her face is red. And she turns to the clock. “Our time is almost up anyway. Shall we start to pack up?”

Everyone agrees and starts to put everything away. Ako - being the first to get ready swings open the door, “Let’s go to Hazawa Coffee!” She exclaims.

“Oh! Ran-chin, Moca-chin!” Ako stops in her movements when she sees the Afterglow members. Tsugumi pops up from behind Ran and Moca. “Tsugu-chin too!” She exclaims, not-so-subtly looking behind her because of Sayo.

Sayo comes from behind Ako. “Mitake-san. Aoba-san.” She nods at the two. When she faces her ex-girlfriend, her expression softens. “Tsugumi. It’s been a while since the baking lesson, hasn’t it?”

Tsugumi brightens when she sees Sayo, “Sayo-chan! Yes, it has, actually. It’s been… A week, I think?” She contemplates. “Yeah! Around a week.”

Ako looks between the two, confused.

“Lisa-san… Does this go here…?” Rinko’s voice could be heard from inside.

“Aah, yeah! That goes there.” Her voice goes slightly louder. Lisa pops up behind the two, “Oho~ It’s Afterglow minus the lovey-dovey couple!” 

“Ehhh~ Hii-chan and Tomo-chin~? Lisa-san~ Ran and I are meant to be the lovey-dovey one of our group~ Come, Ran, give me a kiss~~” Moca complains, and puckers her lips toward Ran who pushes her away.

“You guys were going to Hazawa Coffee, right?” Ran says, “We were about to go there… Do you wanna… join us…?” She asks awkwardly - Moca cooing in the background.

“Yeah sure! It’s a little cramped in here to have a conversation, after all.” Lisa agrees and the girls all shuffle to leave the studio.

“Good evening, Marina-san.” The girls chorus and Marina greets them back cheerily. “Good evening girls! Have a nice day!” She ends and the girls thank her before leaving CiRCLE.

Ran was visibly fidgeting about - even Sayo could notice her giving awkward glances to Yukina. 

“MInato-san.” Ran starts, when they’re almost at the cafe. Her gaze determined and hard - it reminds Sayo of the childish rivalry Yukina and Ran had back in their teenage years.

“Yes, Mitake-san?” Yukina asks, her eyes narrowing in the same way as two years ago.

The group stops walking, their conversation cutting all the other conversations short. Moca, Lisa and Ako watch the pair in anticipation.

Ran looks aways, now blushing. “Roselia…” She starts, “...is doing well… same as always…” and ends on a mumble.

The tips of Yukina’s lips curl up. “Thank you, Mitake-san.”

Lisa, Moca and Ako all cheer for Ran’s being able to openly admit her respect for Roselia. Even using Afterglow’s catchphrase “same as always” to describe Roselia. Sayo knows that Yukina is actually delighted to hear this because she respects Ran and Afterglow a lot more than she lets on.

“Oh? Hazawa Coffee… We’re here!” Ako exclaims and runs into the cafe, leaving the others to look at each other, shrug, and walk in.

Just as they enter, Sayo turns to Tsugumi, curious. “Do you have to work right now?” She asks.

“Oh! No, not yet.” She shakes her head. “My shift doesn’t start until another few hours - so i can relax with you guys here!”

Sayo smiles, “That’s good then.”

When Tsugumi catches the smile, she turns away. Sayo doesn’t know why. 

“Welcome!”

Sayo walks into the grocery store, her phone in hand, looking at the message from her mother asking her to buy some eggs after rehearsal since they were going to run out soon. 

She tightens her grip on her guitar bag, fixing its position on her shoulder. Sayo sighs, rolling her shoulder from the discomfort. “I should get this over fast.” She mumbles to herself and gets a basket for herself.

When she reaches the aisle with the eggs, she opens one of the cartons and checks for cracks. _Okay. This one should be fine._ And places it in the basket.

There’s a clamour to her right and one glance to that direction tells Sayo that the commotion were people lining up for toilet paper.

“Perhaps I should take a second one, with this situation.” Sayo mumbles and leans down to grab another carton of eggs and places it in her basket after checking for cracks.

As she walks toward the register, she notices a familiar bob of brown hair at one of the registers. The closer she was, the more certain she was about the persons identity.

“Tsugumi?” Sayo calls, and Tsugumi turns around, slightly startled. 

“S-Sayo-chan?” She asks, and inhales sharply, placing her hands over her chest. “You startled me…” Tsugumi notices that the register is open and moves to put the things in her trolley on the belt.

Sayo looks down at the trolley. “That’s quite a bit of things on your cart. Are you planning on making more cakes?” She asks, and moves to help Tsugumi put some of the items on the belt.

Tsugumi looks at her, a little surprised, “Ah - thank you, Sayo-chan.” She says, “Well actually, after the baking lesson we had that day, the staff and I had a baking competition! We used more ingredients than expected so I needed to stock up again.”

She sighs, “Though prices have been rising so this might take a bit off our budget…”

Sayo hums, and places the last of the items on the belt. She also puts the eggs on the belt, “If that’s the case, if you don’t mind, I’d like to pay for this.” Sayo says, and immediately reaches for her wallet and card.

Tsugumi shakes her head vehemently, “No! I can’t let you do that for me!” But Sayo is already at the register and scanning the card. “Please. I insist.” She says, “And besides, I’ve already paid.”

Tsugumi crosses her arms, and pouts, but brings her trolley to the other trolleys, and holds on to the plastic bags. “Really, Sayo-chan. It’s kind of you to have done that, but I can pay for my own things.”

Sayo frowns, a little worried that her gesture came off as narcissistic. “I know.” Is all she says, unable to think of a way to explain why she did that that wasn’t _“i love you, so i wanna spoil you”_.

“It’s not necessarily for free though.” Sayo says, trying to fix the situation. _How can I make her pay without it being too much?_

Tsugumi looks at her and nods her direction, wanting her to explain further. Sayo, instinctively, reaches for the grocery bags in Tsugumi’s hands and holds them. Tsugumi, who wasn’t focusing on her actions, gave it to her easily.

It wasn’t long until Tsugumi realises that her hands are much lighter than they were before. Her eyes widen in shock and she turns to Sayo in an instant.

“Wait - you paid for them! I can’t let you hold on to them!” Tsugumi pouts, the moment she realises that Sayo has taken the grocery bags off her hands.

Sayo chuckles, “I’m afraid I cannot do that.” She shakes her head, but it only causes Tsugumi’s frown to deepen.

Sayo hums, and places her hand on her chin. “Perhaps you could accompany Hina and I to the mall this Sunday. You can pay us then, if you’d like.”

At the suggestion, Tsugumi’s sad demeanor becomes happy almost instantly. “Really?” She asks, hopeful. “I can pay for _everything_. Right?” She says, her eyes narrowing in this really attractive, determined way.

Sayo ignores the feeling of her heart skipping. “Of course, if you want to.” She answers, now revelling in Tsugumi’s happiness.

“I’ll take you up on that offer then! I haven’t been able to catch up with Hina-senpai, so this will be a great opportunity!” Tsugumi nods her head.

Sayo brings the bags on her right hand to her left hand. With her right hand, she grabs her phone and sends a message to Hina, _“Leave your schedule this Sunday open. We will have an outing with Tsugumi.”_ and then places her phone back in her pocket.

As Sayo brings the bag back to her right hand, she notices that Tsugumi is a little distracted. “Is there something wrong, Tsugumi?” And follows her gaze forward.

Sayo’s eyes widen and turns back to Tsugumi. Is that her girlfriend? No. Tsugumi hadn’t said anything about her - so they most likely aren’t dating anymore. So is it ex-girlfriend? Will this be an awkward meeting?

Sayo’s thoughts are cut off when Tsugumi squeals and runs toward the girl, “Haru-chan!” She exclaims, wrapping her arms around the girl.

“T-Tsugumi-chan!” She exclaims, eyeing Sayo warily, not sure whether to hug the brown haired girl back with Sayo watching the two.

Sayo approaches the two, and bows when the two separate. “Hello.” She greets meekly. Tsugumi looks between Sayo and Haru, finally realising the awkwardness of the situation.

“Ah! Sorry. Um. Sayo-chan, this is Haru-chan - she’s… uh, my friend.” Tsugumi says, clearly not sure whether to introduce the girl as her ex-girlfriend yet. 

Sayo nods her head and bows again. “Nice to meet you… Haru-san…” A bit awkward with using her first name. “I’m-” She tries to introduce herself.

“Hikawa Sayo, right?” Haru interrupts. “Ah - sorry for interrupting but, there’s no way no one here doesn’t know who you are.” She laughs, trying to defuse the awkward air.

It’s true. Sayo notices the double glances that onlookers around them give to her. So Sayo nods her head at that.

“So you’re the fabled Hikawa Sayo that Tsugumi-chan could never get over, huh~?” Haru comments, but covers her mouth immediately.

Sayo’s eyes widen and she looks at Tsugumi who is making an obvious effort to not look at her. “A-Ahaha… Haru-chan what are you talking about?” She asks, laughing awkwardly.

Sayo coughs, an attempt to compose herself. “I believe that you’re mistaken, Haru-san.” The two turn to her, Tsugumi staring at her with those inquisitive, adorable orbs…

“Hm? How so?” Haru asks, placing her hands on her hips.

“It would be that _I_ cannot get over Tsugumi. It seems to be the case even now, that is. Tsugumi on the other hand, has already gotten over me.” She explains, huffing. She’s a little embarrassed to be admitting this though.

“Tsugu is-!?” Haru looks awfully surprised at the admission. She laughs at that. “You know you guys can stop lying now. It’s so obvious you’ve gotten together again. Don’t let me get in the way, I won’t shame you, after all.” She says.

Her smile is a little sad. Perhaps she’s thinking back on the days that she had dated Tsugumi.

Tsugumi looks between the two and then shakes her head. “You’re wrong.” she says softly. “Sayo-chan and I aren’t dating.”

Haru looks a lot more confused, now that Tsugumi has said something. She purses her lips, and it seems that she’d say something but decides against it last minute.

“If you say so…” She answers eventually, and sighs. “I’ve got to go now. My girlfriend.” She smiles a little wider when she says that, “Is waiting for me.”

“Oh, ok!” Tsugumi responds, and Sayo looks at her. Tsugumi is visibly relieved that the conversation is over. “Tell her I said hi!”

“WIll do. Bye, Tsugumi-chan! Sayo-san!” She waves and runs off, leaving Sayo and Tsugumi staring off after her.

They look at each other, and Tsugumi laughs awkwardly, “Let’s go?” She asks and Sayo nods her head. They start walking on the route again.

It’s a lot more silent, now that Haru had come and said all that, and the silence is killing Sayo. She glances at Tsugumi and catches her and they look away from each other.

Then it repeats, looking, and then turning away when caught. It’s max awkwardness.

It’s too much - which Sayo can’t help but break it and address the elephant in the room.

“Tsugumi… I’m correct in assuming that Haru-san was… your ex-girlfriend, right?” She asks, but refuses to look at the girl.

Tsugumi nods her head, and looks at Sayo. “That’s correct.” She answers truthfully. “We… Dated for two months.”

Sayo crosses her arms. “Pardon me if this is too personal a question, but what made you break up?”

Tsugumi looks surprised by the question, and hums, “I realised I didn't really like her in that way. I guess I just wanted us to be just friends.” And laughs awkwardly,

Sayo knows that’s not the whole truth. Tsugumi is visibly very nervous, with her habit to scratch at her cheek and laugh awkwardly. But she wont prod any further if Tsugumi wont tell her. She’s better off not asking her about it.

“I knew you dated.” Sayo comments but immediately regrets it.

Tsugumi looks at her, a little amusedly. “I… kind of knew you knew.”

“You did?” Sayo raises a brow at that.

“Ran-chan told me you were visiting and Haru-chan happened to be with me at that time…” She replies casually. 

Sayo looks down, the memory of seeing Tsugumi and Haru kissing doesn’t ache as much as it did before. “When I came to your cafe at that time, I saw you and Haru-san… kissing. I came back because I missed you.”

Tsugumi brings her hands to her mouth, “Oh Sayo…” She whispers breathily, so full of emotion. “I’m so sorry…” She says, reaching out her hand to rest on Sayo’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. It was many years ago - and you are not in love with me anyway, so there’s no need for you to be sorry.”

The fact that Tsugumi doesn’t try to refute that statement makes Sayo’s heart pang.

Sayo grits her teeth and makes them move on from the subject. “So. About Sunday.”

“It’s Sunday~ It’s Sunday~” Hina hums, jumping around the room, food still in her mouth.

“Hina, that’s bad manners. Hurry up and finish your food, we’ll be late.”

“Okayy Onee-chaaan~” Hina replies gleefully, grabbing her glass of water and washing down the food. She runs back to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

At this point, Sayo has gotten a little irritable with Hina’s time management. Sayo’s ready - shoes and all for 5 minutes until Hina finally comes to put her shoes on.

“We should be able to make it to the train station and meet up with Tsugumi.” Sayo says, and the two rush off to the train station.

In their haste, two face masks and a pair of sunglasses for purely disguise reasons rather than because they’re sick or it’s sunny are left behind.

When they reach the station, Hina is on the lookout for Tsugumi and Sayo is looking through her bag for the facemasks and sunglasses.

“Shit. I forgot to pack my face masks.” And pulls out her sunglasses. She doubts that this is a good enough disguise, but hopes it’s enough.

“HIna. Where are your sunglasses and mask.” She asks, and Hina jumps in her place. She pats her pockets and looks through her purse.

“Huh?” Hina says nervously, “I think I forgot to get them… I can run back?” She asks, already getting into position to run, but Sayo grabs her arm.

“It’s too late. And it’ll be fine. Hopefully.” Sayo says, though she’s a bit nervous, looking at their surroundings, hoping no one has noticed them. “There’s a significantly less amount of people here. It must be the bug that’s been going around recently.”

Hina hums, “Yeahh, apparently school might get shut down. How zappin~ More school holidays for me~”

Sayo thinks back to the people clamouring at the grocery store a few days ago. “Yes, but it seems there may be a lack of items on the shelves in our grocery stores because of this mess.”

“Aw bummer- that also means that the milk tea places would be shut down. How not boppin’ at all.” As soon as Hina’s energy came, it disappeared just as quickly.

Sayo shakes her head, smiling in amusement. When she looks up, she spots Tsugumi and stands up. “Come on Hina, Tsugumi is over there.” She says and points in the direction that Tsugumi is in.

It’s not long until Hina is leaping toward the unsuspecting, poor girl. “Tsuguuu-chaaaan!” She yells and Tsugumi somehow reacts fast enough to catch the careless girl.

“H-Hina-senpai!” She stutters, struggling against Hina’s strong grip but eventually relaxes from her initial shock. Sayo catches up to the both of them quickly.

Effortlessly, Sayo prys Hina off Tsugumi, who is still reaching for the doe-eyed brunette. Tsugumi laughs nervously, “Hi, Sayo-chan! Did you guys come just now?” She asks, tilting her head adorably.

Sayo finally lets go of Hina who calmed down. She nods her head, “Yes. Hina takes a while to get prepared so we had to wake up earlier than usual - and we still came relatively late.”

Tsugumi smiles at that, “Ah, then that must mean that I’ve arrived to our meeting spot first!” She brings her hands together, “I’m glad, then. Because I never beat you! Somehow you’re always there when I come…” And laughs bashfully.

“That’s not weird is it?” She asks, looking up at Sayo with those adorable eyes, with her cheeks flushed in the way that it makes Sayo just want to hold her face and… just stare, or something.

Sayo’s cheeks heat up and she looks away.

Hina looks between the two, smirking. “Look at you two, being all shooby dooby.” She giggles, bringing her index finger and thumb on her chin. “Ahahaha you guys are really interesting! I don’t know how you two could be like this.”

Sayo frowns and huffs, crossing her arms. “Our train is fast approaching. Lets… go.”

Tsugumi laughs awkwardly and follows after her. Hina looks at them confusedly and then shrugs.

“Hey - Wait up, onee-chaaan, Tsugu-chaaan!”

“Say, Sayo-chan and Hina-senpai.” Tsugumi begins. The twins look at her curiously.

It’s been 20 minutes since they’ve arrived at the mall. They all agreed to go window-shopping until they see something that they’d like to wear.

Tsugumi was visibly nervous the entire time, Sayo noticed. She was looking from left to right, front to back the entire time, and Hina pointing out that Tsugumi wasn’t listening made the twins walk on either side of her so she could at least focus on their (Hina’s) words.

“What’s wrong, Tsugumi?” Sayo asks, concerned. Tsugumi takes another look behind her and sighs.

“You guys are popular right? Like, _really_ popular.” She asks and Hina laughs, making her hands go into a V sign. “That’s right! You want an autograph?” She teases.

Tsugumi giggles, “I might have to take you up on that later.” And then her happy expression turned to wary. “Does that mean you have fangirls that talk to you - or chase you around like Kaoru-senpai’s fangirls in high school?”

Sayo hums, and eyes a particular bracelet that she was sure Tsugumi might like. She’ll come back later. “It does happen occasionally. Recently, Roselia came with Ako-san to Haneoka and we were running away from our fangirls.” Looking back, the event makes her laugh.

“Oh no.” Tsugumi whispers. And she looks up, staring forward.

Sayo follows her gaze and sees… Someone familiar. She doesn’t know this person, but she feels like she’s seen this person around the mall before. Sayo narrows her gaze when she notices that they’d been staring at them.

Tsugumi rubs her temples with her hands. “Do you guys usually wear any disguises?” She asks. Sayo nods her head, “We usually don a pair of sunglasses and a mask too. Though in our haste, we seemed to have forgotten to bring them. Is… Is there any particular reason why you’re asking this?”

Sayo looks around the mall, seeing Hina looks around as well, and notices that she locks eyes with some people who immediately turn their heads. “Oh.” Is all she says. One glance at Hina and she knows Hina has the same realisation.

As if on time, the three hear a scream - so shrill that it’s impossible to miss it. “IS THAT THE HIKAWA TWINS?” This girl squeals loudly, looking extremely ecstatic and completely oblivious to the looks of horror on the twins.

Sayo and Hina share looks. Sayo sighs - she hates it when this happens, and Hina’s initial shock is replaced with entertainment. Tsugumi looks absolutely lost in this situation, but Hina and Sayo know that there’s only one thing to do when there’s a hoard of fangirls.

“Run!” Both Sayo and Hina shout, linking their arms on either side of Tsugumi, forcibly dragging her and running in the opposite direction of the growing clamour.

Hina laughs giddily, “I knew I should have run back to get our masks and sunglasses. Look what’s happening.” She looks like she’s having fun with this.

Sayo growls, “I can’t believe you’re having fun with this. Just because we’re used to this doesn’t mean that Tsugumi is.”

Quickly, Sayo and Hina find an area to hide from the rushing fangirls, just behind a shop. Here, the twins set the overwhelmed brunette down to rest. 

“Are you okay, Tsugumi?” Sayo kneels next to her crush, her brows creasing in worry. “We weren’t too rough, were we?” She asks.

Hina looks out to check if there was anyone else. She turns to Sayo and salutes, “The coast is clear!” She says dorkily. Sayo’s lips curl up just a little bit at Hina’s call, “Right, right. Good job, Hina.” She says.

The praise makes Hina brighten and smile widely. She kneels next to Tsugumi. “How’s Tsugu-chan?” Hina asks Sayo.

Tsugumi inhales, “I- I’m fine. You guys were fine.” She says quickly. “It was just a little surprising, I wasn’t expecting you two to grab me like that.” The brunette laughs in a tired manner.

“Just give me a moment to rest please.” Tsugumi says, closing her eyes and trying to regain composure. Sayo nods her head and Hina jumps up, dusting off her pants.

“What do we do now?” Hina asks, in a hush tone, something Sayo is not used to hearing. “Tsugu-chan is tired from that one run - and usually if there’s one hoard, there’s definitely gonna be another hoard. It’d be _zappin’_ to see, but it’s probably better for Tsugu-chan to not have to experience.”

Sayo hums, looking back at the flustered Tsugumi. “Perhaps we should go to a store that sells caps or masks.” She suggests, crossing her arms. She looks out briefly, “There’s a hat store on the floor below us, but our fangirls may catch us before that.”

Hina looks over at Tsugumi. “I think we can handle a flock or two fangirls.” She says. “And besides, they’re all on the other side now!” She says, and links arms with Sayo and Tsugumi on either side of her and drags them.

“Let’s goooo!!” She exclaims and pulls the both of them outside, hurrying to the escalator. When they reach the escalator, she let go of both of their arms. 

Sayo and Tsugumi somehow don’t fall over through that and stabilize themselves on the escalator. Hina huffs proudly, “Okay, Onee-chan! Which way is the shop?” She asks, puffing her chest out.

Sayo sighs and looks at their surroundings. Not many people seemed to have noticed them - or at least (hopefully) none of their fangirls have noticed them.

“It’s... that way.” Sayo points to the direction of the hat store. “There’s quite a bit of a walk. We might encounter them.” She murmurs.

Hina frowns, humming and thinking. “T-Then, how about you guys alternate between hiding and distracting your fangirls?” Tsugumi pipes in. The twins look at each other.

“That could work.” Sayo says, placing her fingers on her chin. “Since Tsugumi isn’t used to this situation, it may be better to take precautions like that. Either way, if only one of us gets a hat, we could buy a hat for the other too.”

Hina grins, and pulls the brunette in a tight hug. “Awhh thanks, Tsugu, you’re the best!” Tsugumi blushes and nods her head, “I’m glad I could help you guys!” she grins.

When the escalator reaches the bottom, the three start walking in the direction of the shop. It seemed there were less people here so they became much more relaxed than they were before.

“Hey, Tsugu-chan.” Hina starts, a little excited. “How has Ran-chan and the rest of Afterglow been up to! Last thing I heard was that Tomoe-chan and Himari-chan have finally gotten engaged!” she exclaims, her eyes lighting up.

“Oh and that it was a pretty boppin’ proposal!” Hina continues talking. Tsugumi laughs, and Sayo raises her eyebrows. “They must’ve gotten engaged this week then.” Sayo comments.

“That’s right! Tomoe-chan and Himari-chan arrived in Paris just a few days ago. That’s when Tomoe-chan proposed.” Tsugumi looks so happy talking about her childhood friends.

Sayo nods her head and Tsugumi turns to Hina. “As for Ran-chan, she’s in college - just like me! And Moca-chan is still as mysterious as ever - but that’s her charm!”

Hina hums, “She’s been making a lot of money, right?” She asks, tilting her head, and Tsugumi nods her head in response. “That’s right, but no one knows how she even gets that money…”

The teal haired girl grins mischievously, “Maybe she’s delving into the dark side of the market.” She jokes, and laughs awkwardly when Sayo shoots her a glare.

“I’m sure that is not the case.” Sayo says, trying to defend the silver haired guitarist, even as annoying as she is, she has been one of Tsugumi’s life-long companions alongside Afterglow, so Tsugumi wouldn’t appreciate this sort of joke about her friend.

But when she looks at Tsugumi, she’s surprised to see the brunette in a somewhat contemplative mood instead.

“Tsugumi?” She calls and Tsugumi snaps her head up, looking like she’d just realised something.

“I-If that were the case, then it would make so much sense…”

Sayo facepalms at that. Her defending the silver haired minx was for naught.

Hina laughs, “Ahahaha I’m just joking!” She exclaims, laughing so hard that she was clutching her stomach. “Moca-chan is the author of a bunch of suuuper popular mangas, y’know?”

Sayo and Tsugumi stop and stare at her. “Huh? What did you say, Hina-senpai?” Tsugumi asks, furrowing her eyebrows in thought. “Moca-chan makes manga? She can’t draw though.”

“No- no, she doesn’t draw. Someone else draws for her.” Hina grins.

“Then who…? ...Oh. Himari-chan.” The question was answered before it was even asked.

Hina ignores their confused expressions. “She’s made so many _interesting_ stories with such boppin’ and zappin’ plots! Like - who would have thought of a detective story that uses _bread_ as the murder weapon!? Only Moca-chan.”

“W-Wait - how do you even know this? Even I- her _childhood friend_ , didn’t know this.” Tsugumi asks, frowning, now a little sad that Moca hadn’t told her about this. “Did- Did she tell you?”

“HAHA no. I happened to stumble across the story and figured that the story seemed familiar. Then I visited Moca-chan once and found her stashed papers of the plans of her numerous manga stories. Let me tell you, they were _all_ interesting.”

“O-Oh is that right…?” Tsugumi, now more confused than ever, just agreed with her words like she had when they were younger.

“Yep! It was…!” Hina’s words trail off as she looks forward. She notices someone familiar - and realises immediately that it was one of their fangirls. Those fangirls were looking directly at them and ready to pounce.

“They’re there!” Hina yells, and grabs onto Tsugumi’s arm. “Here, Onee-chan, take Tsugu-chan!” And shoves her toward Sayo’s direction so suddenly that Sayo is forced to catch her.

“ _Naisu catchhii_ ~”

“Hina! Be careful with her!”

Sayo scowls, but the momentum is already bringing them toward the behind of a building. Sayo regains her footing and pulls Tsugumi in an alleyway.

She places her hands on the wall, a little exhausted by the way that Hina had handled that situation.

“Tsugumi are you alri-”

Sayo finally realises that she’s pinned Tsugumi to the wall by accident.

Tsugumi is staring up at her with those hypnotic brown orbs. Her cheeks flushing endearingly. Her lips, opening and closing as if she were to say something but nothing came out.

Suddenly, the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears was louder than the many people outside, talking to each other. No. Those disappear altogether.

In this moment, Sayo only sees Tsugumi.

Tsugumi is like a temptress. Sayo cannot help but fall for her _charms_. It’s inevitable. Sayo’s eyes roam Tsugumi’s face, roaming every inch of her face and savouring this moment completely.

Her freckles have grown more prominent. And blush whenever in a compromising position with, well, _anyone_ she cares about is much milder.

Her eyes are less dazed. Tsugumi seemed to drown in her thoughts a lot less now that they’re adults. But because of that, it means her focus is completely on Sayo. Her eyes are more clear and… she doesn’t quite know what she’s thinking about anymore.

Perhaps that’s just what years of being away from each other did to them. But that’s okay. Sayo is okay with getting to know these newer sides of Tsugumi.

Sayo notices that Tsugumi is also roaming her features with her own eyes.

And slowly, her hand reaches up and cups Tsugumi’s cheek. Tsugumi sighs, and leans into her palm, closing her eyes. Sayo… Sayo leans in.

But she stops herself.

“No.” She says, but it’s more to herself than anyone else really.

Tsugumi’s eyes snap open, and she looks panicked, “I-I’m so sorry - I don’t know what just came over me. I.” She didn’t look too sure about how to complete that sentence.

Sayo sighs, and leans her head on Tsugumi’s shoulder. “I’m sorry Tsugumi. You’re just… You’re _adorable_ , is all, really. I’ll work harder on restraining myself until you let me do that for real.”

Tsugumi relaxes and reaches up to Sayo’s head to pat it. The brunette's smile was wide, and her cheeks flushed from the compliment. “It’s fine!”

The two remain silent for a while, both girls turning away from each other, faces completely scarlet.

“Hehe.” Tsugumi laughs and Sayo looks back down to see that Tsugumi is looking right at her again. Tsugumi and her _adorable_ smile, looking like she absolutely _loves_ Sayo. But it’s not like that, of course.

She can at least dream, can’t she?

“What’s wrong?” Sayo asks, raising her brows at the giggling brunette.

“From here.” She gestures to herself, “You’re really cool. It’s kind of making my heart pound ehehe.” Toward the end of the sentence, Tsugumi faces Sayo again and blinds her with that extremely bright smile.

“...Right.”

Sayo peels herself off Tsugumi, albeit just a little bit reluctantly, and looks out. Just in time, Hina is jogging, yelling, “Tsugu-chan? Onee-chan?” evidently looking for the pair.

The two come out and Hina beams when she sees them. “There you guys are! I thought I lost you! The fans were all like _woosh_ and _shaka dooble_ and it was kinda _furooom_ , but I shook them off in the end!”

As usual, the two are confused by Hina’s terminology. Though, Sayo is much too flustered to refute that even Hina notices the awkward air between the two.

“Huh? Onee-chan, why are you acting so weird?” She turns to Tsugumi who’s blushing up a storm, “Tsugu-chan too! Why is your face so red?”

Hina looks between the two, and it’s obvious that Hina’s caught on, with her expression, and Sayo is glad that Hina chose not to say anything in this moment.

They eventually bought caps and thankfully, none other fangirls have noticed them. Though it’s understood why that was when they entered the fast food restaurant which the front counter was completely filled.

They eventually came to the counter, of course, because Sayo adores the fries in this place and she’d _never_ give it up for a mere crowd. What they were met with was even more surprising, however.

“Hina-chan!?”

“Ahaha! Aya-chan I brought us here on vacation and you’re here working!” Hina remarks, Tsugumi and Sayo following her gaze to the insanely popular vocalist of Pastel*Palettes, Maruyama Aya.

It explains so much - from the even more isolated halls of the mall, to the crowded fast food chain restaurant.

They sit at the only table left.

Sayo munches on her fries, her expression somewhat monotone. She looks over at Aya who seems to be relishing in her fame and the fact that she’s being recognised. She imagines that the manager is thrilled that there are a lot of customers.

“Hey, Hina-chan, what did you mean by, ‘brought us here on vacation’. Aren’t you guys too busy to have a vacation?” Tsugumi asks, and pops a fry into her mouth, looking at Hina expectantly.

Hina raises her head, mouth messy from her burger. Sayo sighs, and instinctively reaches out with a tissue to wipe her face. Tsugumi smiles at the sibling interaction.

“Well…” Hina says, frowning, “Unlike Onee-chan’s band, our band is managed by an agency! So that means they control our schedules, who to talk to, who not to talk to and stuff like that!” Hina says.

She crosses her arms, looking a little contemplative, “For me, that’s alright! I can handle the work they make us do. Though it does get pretty tiring at times.”

Sayo raises her brows. This is the first she’s heard of this. Her sister barely gets disheartened - or even _tired_ . She has _boundless_ energy. If she’s tired from idol work, they must be making her do a lot.

“And Aya-chan is a really hard worker yeah? She’s collapsed so many times while we practised. Chisato-chan too! Even though she doesn’t try as hard as Aya-chan.”

Tsugumi raises her hands to her lips, expression of horror. 

“Aaaww and we also don’t get paid enough, according to Chisato-chan. Anyway when I heard Roselia was on a mini hiatus, I said that we should also go on one!”

Tsugumi turns to Sayo, a little confused by the story. 

Sayo takes a sip out of her water. “Essentially, Pastel*Palettes were being overworked and so now are boycotting to rebel against their agency.”

Tsugumi nods her head, “Ohh.” She says, and turns back to Hina. “So then, where’s Chisato-chan, Eve-chan and Maya-chan?” She asks, a little curious.

“Hmm, well. Chisato-chan must be getting some well deserved _pampering_ from Kaoru-kun!” Hina says, but laughs mischievously which makes obvious the meaning over her statement. Tsugumi’s face turns red at that.

“Eve-chan and Maya-chan are actually also back home too! Chisato-chan is the only one who went somewhere else.” Hina says, grinning.

Tsugumi’s smile widens and she brings her hands together, “Oh, that’s good! I haven’t seen Eve-chan in a long time! I might ask her to hang out with me soon.”

“Good for you then!” Hina exclaims, giggling.

Sayo nods her head and continues to eat her fries. It’s not long until they finally finish their meal.

“In the end, we didn’t actually go shopping.” Tsugumi remarks, laughing a little.

Sayo looks down, looking guilty, “I apologise, Tsugumi. If we hadn’t forgotten our masks, we would have been able to buy something.” She now laments that she didn’t get to buy the jewellery she thought would look nice on Tsugumi.

“No, it’s okay. It was actually a little bit fun to hide and run away from your fangirls.” Tsugumi answers, grinning and poking Sayo lightly. Sayo turns away, blushing, remembering how she pinned Tsugumi to the wall and almost _kissed_ her.

Hina laughs, “It was _hilarious_! It’s always so interesting to be chased like that!” She exclaims, eyes starry, hands clutching her stomach when laughing.

Sayo looks up at the sky, and then down at her watch. “It’s getting rather late. Would you like to stay over tonight?” Sayo asks, without missing a beat.

“Ooh, _nice idea_ Onee-chan!”

When Tsugumi doesn’t respond immediately, Sayo realises the implications of her words and blushes. “I- Not like that, of course. Hina and our parents will be home. I’m sure they’d both be thrilled to see you again.”

Tsugumi purses her lips, her cheeks a little bit red. She places her hands on her chest, and Sayo notices that she looks a little more confused than flustered. “I’d love to.” She answers eventually.

Hina lets out a sound of excitement and hugs her, “Yaaaay! Let’s hurry! Our train is here now!” And begins to drag Tsugumi toward the train. “Hina-senpaiii…” She complains, but looks a little amused at the turn of events.

Sayo sighs and follows after them.

“We’re home!”

“Welcome home girls, have you already eaten dinner- _ara_? Is that Tsugumi-chan I see there?”

Sayo’s mother comes out from the kitchen, peeking out at the girls, her sweet smile slowly becoming mischievous. She extends her arms and hugs the brunette, “It is!” She exclaims, giving Tsugumi a quick hug.

“Ah… H-Hi Miss Hikawa-”

“I thought I told you to never call me that! Call me Mother, please - because it seems like you’re gonna be in the family real soon.” She says in a playful tone, eyeing Sayo meaningfully.

Sayo furrows her eyebrows, and opens her voice to refute that statement but Tsugumi responds before she could. “Ah… T-Then, hello, Mother!”

Sayo blushes, because Tsugumi hadn’t rejected her mother calling them a couple, instead choosing to play along with it. She coughs in her fist and mumbles, “I’ll go take a shower first.”

She enters the bathroom and inhales to compose her thoughts.

 _It’s just Tsugumi being polite. It’s just Tsugumi being polite._ She thinks to herself repeatedly, like a mantra. _I won't believe she loves me back until I can confirm it._

After the quick shower, she walks out the bathroom and encounters a slightly exhausted looking Tsugumi, visibly already showered using their other bathroom. “Ah… Hi, Sayo-chan.” she greets cheerily, though a little drained of energy.

Sayo holds back her laughter, “Did my mother and sister overwhelm you again?” She asks, a smile on her face before she knew it.

Tsugumi sighs and it’s all the answer she needed. Her mother was always the eccentric type, like Hina, always complaining and happy most of the time. The stoicness in Sayo came from her father's side, who was many times more serious but always compliant when it came to his wife.

“Um.. Sayo-chan, where will I be sleeping?” 

Tsugumi asks this so meekly and quietly that if Sayo hadn’t already been listening to her, she would have missed what she said. Sayo crosses her arms. That is a rather good question.

“You can sleep in my room. But if you’re uncomfortable, I can-”

“No - I’ll sleep with you!” Tsugumi interjects, but turns red at the phrasing of those words. “I mean- you don’t have to move somewhere else just because of me. I’ll… I’d feel really bad. And I’m not uncomfortable.”

Tsugumi inhales and closes her eyes. When she opens them again, Sayo is met with a determined gaze, so full of adoration and-

“I could _never_ be uncomfortable with you.”

Sayo feels like Tsugumi is finally falling in love again.

The way she emphasised ‘never’, so completely filled with fondness, like it was ridiculous for Sayo to even suggest that she could ever be uncomfortable with her.

“Oh really?” Sayo responds, her voice weak. She clears her throat. “Why might that be?” She asks, hoping for the answer she wants.

Tsugumi frowns, and looks down. “I… I’m not sure, to be completely honest. I… I think I…” she looks like she wants to say more but stops herself.

“No. That wouldn’t be right of me to say if I didn’t mean it.” She mumbles, barely audible for Sayo. “I think I’d like a little more time to think to answer that question.” Tsugumi answers softly. A little unsure of herself, Sayo can tell.

Sayo nods her head. “That’s okay. Take your time.”

In a sudden surge of courage, Sayo reaches out and embraces Tsugumi, bringing their bodies together. Tsugumi clings to her and their bodies mold together perfectly.

Sayo tightens her hold and murmurs, “I’ll be waiting, Tsugumi.”

Tsugumi clutches at her back just a little bit more tightly too. “Okay.” She whispers. “Thank you.”

A few seconds later, and they’re separated from their intimate hug.

“Shall we go back to my room?” Sayo asks, her cheeks now burning from her action. She huffs, “I… I’d… Unless you don’t like to, we could share my bed?”

In the darkness of the hall, Sayo cannot tell if Tsugumi is blushing or if it were just her imagination. “I would love to.” She answers, just as softly, and reaches out, pausing mid-air.

Sayo smiles and holds onto her hand, and they walk back to her room.

Even though it’s been so long since they’ve slept together in one bed, Sayo finds that Tsugumi is just as comforting as she was when they were younger.

Hesitantly, Sayo reaches out, and when Tsugumi doesn’t reject her, she pulls the brunette closer to her, their legs tangling together.

“Sayo… chan…?” Tsugumi asks, and it sounds so meek, so embarrassed, so nervous. Sayo smiles at that and pats her back gently.

“Sweet dreams, Tsugumi.” Sayo whispers, her body feeling so light, her heart swelling with how much she loves this girl.

“Ah… Y-You too, Sayo-chan!” Tsugumi responds. Sayo closes her eyes and succumbs to the calmest sleep she’s had in ages.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhghhhh im so sorry for posting this super duper late. i was studying for my upcoming assessments, which now i regret doing because they got cancelled anyway lmao. but my school work still isn't technically cancelled coz we goin full online :').... it's kinda annoying.  
> i want more time to write :(  
> this is 2k words longer than the other chapters :clown: *laughs* im sorry.  
> while tryin to post this (and struggling to figure out what to name this chapter) i was playing the new april fools event on eng bandori. haha it's funny hearing moca scream "pan pan pan pan". though since i played the event back in the jp ver, reading the translations and understanding fully what they're talking about makes it 10 times more funny hahaha.  
> reading the comments on each chapter always makes me happy. you guys are honestly such nice readers ;; i love yall and i think being deprived from my friends + exhaustion = me being extra sappy more than usual ehehe.


	4. Something is different.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tsugumi comes to a realisation about her feelings. however, she seems to still have some doubts. sayo finds herself contemplating the nature of her relationship with tsugumi, discussing it with roselia and going on a maybe date with the girl in question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah. sorry. i changed the title and the summary (kinda). everytime i looked at the title and summary i cringed because it wasn't really exciting enough imo.

Tsugumi opens her eyes, and they immediately widen at what she sees.

Sayo is still sleeping, breaths slow and steady, her arm wrapped around Tsugumi’s waist. 

Panicking, Tsugumi tries to adjust her movement but she finds it almost impossible with their legs completely tangled together, so she huffs and relaxes back into her resting position.

Her heart is pounding hard and fast with Sayo so close to her. At the same time she felt extremely comfortable, like she wanted to be able to stay with Sayo, and she was even confident she _could_.

Tsugumi immediately puts away those thoughts. She sighs, “Why am I thinking like this, when I don’t even love you in that way?” She whispers, still staring at Sayo.

But what if she does?

“It can’t be. It- this feels way different to before-”

Sayo looks different. No, that’s not quite right. Sayo is the same, with her hair, and her _gorgeous_ features - it’s just that, she looks much more grown up.

She’s matured. Grown, into this wonderful woman.

So.

Hypothetically. _Just_ hypothetically. She’ll say she’s in love with Sayo.

But the feeling is much different than before.

She used to be scared of what would happen in the future with them. She used to be scared of angering Sayo, used to be _worried_ about Sayo losing her feelings-

Tsugumi was scared of losing Sayo if she continued to date her in the future.

She didn’t like thinking about what she used to be before.

She sighs.

But now? Tsugumi feels like she doesn’t care anymore. Well, not quite. She touches her chest, placement just over her heart. She feels like they can work things out if they come back to be lovers again.

And it’s not just because she knows that Sayo hasn’t lost her feelings for 2 years.

But even if she feels they can do anything together, does she _really_ deserve it?

She sighs, rubbing at her temples before looking at Sayo again. 

Hypothetical.

...She’s not fooling anyone, is she? Tsugumi is in love with Sayo.

But why does it feel so different?

She doesn’t really know.

Maybe it started with when Sayo left.

When Sayo left, Tsugumi completely buried herself in her work, pushing out any idea of feelings. Everything about romance, all her novels, manga, she ignored them for a year and a half.

_“Tsugu! Tsugu!” Ran yelled, tears in her eyes. Tomoe was also there, next to Ran, yelling to call the ambulance like she had the last time Tsugumi collapsed._

_She blacked out and awoke on a hospital bed._

_Ran was sobbing, “Why are you overworking yourself again!? You promised you wouldn’t!” and her eyes narrowed. “It’s because of Sayo-san isn’t it.” she growled._

_Ran was right. It was because of Sayo. The pain was too much for her to bear, so she distracted herself completely, basically shutting herself away from the world for a while._

_If it weren’t for the rest of her friends in Afterglow… She’s not sure she would have survived with all that self-destruction._

**...She didn’t want to feel the pain of losing her again.**

_“...Sayo...chan?”_

_Her heart feels like it’s squeezing in on her. But it relaxes when Sayo immediately lets go of the boy's hand._

_She doesn’t know whether she’s happy to see Sayo, or angry for… angry about what? Whoever Sayo dates is her choice and she has to be happy about it. There’s no reason to be sad about anything. Sayo is thriving and that’s all that matters._

She still doesn’t know how it works. It’s so confusing.

Why does it feel so obviously different compared to the past? What _changed_ within the two years that makes her feeling of love so much different to before?

...Tsugumi still might have to work on a theory about that.

So yeah, she’s in love with Sayo.

Anxiety fills her. What if they weren’t ready? What if Sayo had already moved on or… would fall in love with someone else?

That… that’s something she’d rather not think about. She curls in on herself, frown deepening, if that happened, how could Tsugumi cope? ...She… She might self-destruct again.

At least, with the article she had read, it was obvious that Sayo didn’t reciprocate the kiss. Maybe it was with that comfort that she’d not felt sad over the news.

Even if Tsugumi admits these feelings to Sayo, does she _deserve_ to be happy? Did she deserve to date her, to take her and call Sayo hers?

It’s _selfish_ , especially when Sayo still has a long future ahead of her.

Tsugumi doesn’t want to take that away from her-

She _refuses_ to take-

Sayo stirs, her eyes opening slightly. Dazedly, she looks at Tsugumi in her half-asleep state. “Tsugu…?” She asks, the nickname making warmth spread in her chest.

“I’m here.” Tsugumi answers quietly, staring at Sayo fondly. Sayo moves around, and before Tsugumi notices, her arm is reaching for her waist and brings her closer. 

Tsugumi has no choice but to accept her fate to likely spend one or two hours in bed with the woman she loves. She figures she has enough time before her first lesson starts, and even if it does start, she can ask some of her friends at uni for their notes.

Sayo is still staring at her with half lidded eyes, looking like she could suddenly fall asleep at any moment. “Is there something wrong?” Tsugumi asks, staring back at Sayo’s orbs.

This, this is new. Sayo was open with her in the past, though never this open. She never wanted Tsugumi to see the worst sides, or the embarrassing sides of her, though Sayo is much more relaxed.

Tsugumi loves it.

“I love you.”

If this were a shoujo manga, she could see the flowers blooming on each side of the panel, the sparkles illuminating the two protagonists, the one confessing looking dashing.

Funnily enough, Sayo might be beautiful, but in this moment, she’s sloppy and clumsy and far from perfect though Tsugumi’s perspective. Nevertheless, the confession brings the warmth back in her chest, seeping into her veins, invading her nerves that spark and her heart is pounding like it was the most beautiful confession she’d witnessed.

(It wasn’t. The most beautiful confession she’d witnessed was when Sayo first told her she loved her. It was much more wonderful than her clumsy, awkward confession in the middle of Sayo tuning her guitar.)

And Sayo is back to sleeping, a smile on her face. Tsugumi sighs and giggles, bringing her hand to stroke at the guitarists cheeks.

She places a soft, tender kiss on her lips, her solemn whisper of “I love you too” left lingering in the cool air.

* * *

Something is different.

Sayo wakes to the faintest press on her lips. She has an inkling of what it was because when she opened her eyes, Tsugumi was sitting by the edge of her bed, ears bright red.

“O-Oh! Good morning, Sayo-san!” Tsugumi greets, though Sayo could notice a bit of red on her face. “It’s 10am right now, so I have to leave soon for college. Is there anything you needed?”

Sayo looks up at her from her position on the bed. “Ah…Perhaps I could drive you?” She asks, sitting up and rubbing sleepily at her forehead. “I know the way, so don’t worry.” She yawns.

Tsugumi hums, looking away from Sayo. “That would be nice… Thank you.” She responds, smiling bashfully. 

That’s... different.

Sayo simply smiles at her and walks to her closet to get some clothes out for herself and Tsugumi. She puts down a set in front of Tsugumi.

“You can wear this… I’ll go change in the bathroom.”

Tsugumi reaches out before Sayo can move to leave the room. “No. It’s okay.” She says. Though she blushes when she says that. “It’s- We’re both girls, so there’s nothing to be embarrassed over!” she laughs nervously.

Sayo looks at her, blinking owlishly. She looks down, her cheeks warming. “If you insist, then I’ll stay.” And walks over to the other side of the room.

She huffs and takes her shirt off in one swoop. When she finishes changing, she turns to look at Tsugumi not having changed yet, her face completely red.

“Tsugumi?” Sayo calls out and the brunette jumps, startled.

“Yes?” Tsugumi says in response, turning around to meet with Sayo. Her eyes widen, “Oh! I’m so sorry, I was spacing out. I-I’ll get changed right now, you can go down now and I’ll be there quickly.”

Sayo nods her head, though she’s confused. “Okay. I’ll see you then.” And walks down the stairs. She isn’t sure if she just imagined the sigh of relief coming out of Tsugumi, but either way paid it no heed.

“Good morning onee-chan!” Hina pops out of the room, holding a bowl of rice. “I was just setting the table, is Tsugu-chan awake already?”

Sayo pulls out the chair and slowly sits down, “Yes… She seemed rather jumpy today. Had she been awake earlier today and spoken to you? It’s a little confusing.”

Hina hums, “Aahh. Nope! She was in your room all this morning!” She answers, still as eccentric as always. “Maybe she did something to you while you were sleeping and she’s all embarrassed about it.” She teases, smirking.

A memory of a soft press on her lips surfaces. Sayo’s face turns red. “You’re incorrigible. Tsugumi would never do any of the sort.” She answers with an air of finality, crossing her arms. 

“But you guys haven’t seen each other for yeaaaars~ Maybe she changed during that time!” Hina places the bowl down and moves closer.

She _does_ make a valid point.

“Perhaps I did something in my sleep…” Sayo leans forward, elbows on the table, one hand on her face, massaging her cheeks. “Do I sleep talk?”

Hina presses her fingers on her chin, “Not as far as I know!”

“Do I sleepwalk? Would I abruptly stand and go to the kitchen for a bottle of water whilst asleep?”

“Nope!”

“Hmm, do I move around? Like for example…” Sayo’s cheeks warm. “Would I cuddle someone if they were sleeping with me?”

“You always stay still when you sleep!”

Sayo glares at her and Hina giggles nervously. “It’s all from when you let me sleep with you in high school!” 

Sayo coughs. “You should really phrase that better. What would people think if they heard you say that…” Sayo narrows her eyes and Hina pouts.

“Yes, yes onee-chan~” She says, and grins, finally sitting down and eating. Sayo’s mother emerges from the kitchen.

“ I knew I had heard some voices. Why didn’t you come greet your mother Sayo? And where’s Tsugu-chan?” The woman asks, setting down a cup for her side. She looks around and raises her hand to her mouth. “She didn’t leave while we didn’t see, did she?”

Sayo shakes her head, “No mother, she’s changing in my room.”

At that, her mother smiles, a similar smile to Hina’s own smile. _Great_ . Sayo thinks. _Now I have to deal with these two_. Fortunately, before any of the girls could comment, the sound of Tsugumi walking downstairs was made apparent.

“Ah! Good morning… um… mum.” Tsugumi says, a little embarrassed with what she calls Sayo’s mother. She shyly walks into the dining room and sits in the only seat available - next to Sayo.

“Ahh, Tsugumi-chan~” Sayo’s mother calls out, “Please, help yourself! Do you have to go to college today? Would you like us to drive you there?” She asks continuously, making Tsugumi laugh nervously.

Sayo coughs, “Mother.” She says sternly, and the woman huffs. “What? I haven’t seen her in _years_ , I’m allowed to be curious.”

Tsugumi giggles at the mother-daughter display. “It’s alright, mmmiii- mum.”

“Nice save.”

“Ehehe…” She rubs at her nape. “It’s okay. Sayo-chan promised to drive me today.” Tsugumi answers. 

“Hehhh… Sayo did, now?” She looks at Sayo who immediately looks the other way. Even without looking at the woman, Sayo knows that her mother is bearing a poorly contained grin - and she knows that without a doubt, she will face serious teasing when she comes back home from dropping off Tsugumi.

Sayo coughs into her fist. “Yes, I did. Is that a problem?” She asks, her flushed complexion giving away how composed she really is.

“Nope.” Her mother answers, her voice taking a playful lilt. Thankfully, she doesn’t say much about the topic and continues to eat her breakfast.

Sayo is the first to finish her food and she hurriedly washes her dishes and places them on the drying rack. She goes to Tsugumi.

“I’ll just get ready and then we can leave when you finish getting ready.” She murmurs to the girl, who looks up and nods her head.

“Mmkay! I’ll see you later then!” Tsugumi answers, her lips curving up adorably, making Sayo’s heart clench in _adoration_.

Sayo nods her head mutely and walks back to her room.

“My keys… my keys…” She mumbles, wracking her head to where she last put her keys. “Oh… I forgot. they’re at the front door.” Sayo is glad no one is here to witness her short moment of stupidity.

“It’s a little cold. So… I should get a jacket then.” Sayo mumbles, shivering a little. She opens her closet to pull a jacket on.

When she leaves her room, she sees Tsugumi emerging from the bathroom. Tsugumi looks up, a little surprised. “Oh! Sayo-chan! Your mother was kind enough to open a new packet for a toothbrush so I could brush my teeth. Are we leaving now?”

Sayo nods her head. “Yes…”

They walk to the front door. “We’re leaving now!” Sayo calls out.

“Make sure to drive safely!” Sayo’s mother calls out in response, and Sayo nods her head instinctively, reaching out to grab her car and house keys. She locks the door.

When they enter the car, Sayo starts the engine and Tsugumi breathes out a sigh which immediately morphs into small giggles.

Sayo looks at her curiously, the tips of her lips twitching upward at the sight of Tsugumi laughing. She reverses to get out of the parking. “What’s wrong, Tsugumi?”

“Well… Your family is really… something… aha, ah! I’m not trying to offend them! It’s just been so long since I’ve met them, and it’s still just as overwhelming to meet them.” Tsugumi smiles, a little unsure about her explanation. She peeks up at Sayo, who was staring at her with a curious expression.

Sayo faces the road, slowing at the sight of a red light. “It’s okay. I didn’t think you were offending them. My mother and Hina can be… overbearing. Even if I’ve lived with them most of my life, I could never get used to their energetic antics.”

She chuckles a little at a memory of Hina and her mother planning out elaborate, ridiculous things.

“They can be rather surreal. In a similar way to Aoba-san, only, less mysterious and more honest and stupidly eccentric.” Sayo says, scrunching her nose.

Tsugumi laughs at the comparison. “Ah… I’m a little jealous…” She mumbles. Sayo looks at her briefly and immediately understands the statement. 

As a single child, Tsugumi never experienced the livelihood of Sayo’s childhood. “Would you not have experienced similar things in regards to your Afterglow friends?” She asks.

Tsugumi hums, “...I guess! We did spend a lot of time together, though it’s a little different because we never lived together. And my parents actually live farther away compared to the rest of the group, so we rarely walked to school together.”

Sayo nods her head. “Ah… If I recall correctly, Aoba-san and Mitake-san were next door neighbours, with Uehara-san just across the street.”

“Yeah.” Tsugumi affirms, “And Tomoe-chan was just along the road. To get to my place was a 10 minute walk but still…”

Sayo purses her lips. “Even if you did not experience the childhood I had, I’m certain there are many good things that come with being an only child. For example, your parents must have doted on you a lot, right?”

Tsugumi nods her head, “...I guess they did!” She smiles a little wider. “I guess I would prefer this to having another sibling. Though, that might be a little selfish to admit.” Her cheeks pinken.

“Let’s just keep it a secret then.” Sayo suggests, now fully smiling. “I like how my family is now as well. They are rowdy… But I love them nonetheless.”

Sayo can feel her ears heat up at realisation of what she said. “Don’t tell Hina, or my mother that please. They would never let me forget that.”

Tsugumi giggles. “We both get to keep secrets for each other then!”

Sayo calms down a little, her eyes on Tsugumi’s face. Her heart begins to race. “I… I guess we do.”

“Oh. We’re here.” Sayo looks out to the place. She opens the door at the same time as Tsugumi opening it.

Sayo leans on her car cooly, watching Tsugumi walk around the car to get to the side where the pathway was. Tsugumi is fidgeting a little.

“I’ll see you around then?” Sayo asks, prompting Tsugumi to look and nod her head. “Ah! Yes!” She says, nervously fumbling on her words. She calms down and giggles.

Sayo is about to turn around and open the door when there is a pressure on her arm. She looks back and sees Tsugumi holding onto her arm, her doe eyes looking up at her, cheeks a little flushed. She looks more determined than anything though.

“Sayo-chan!” Tsugumi says, her eyebrows curving downward, a trait that indicated that she was absolutely focused.

“Yes?” Sayo asks inquisitively.

“Are you free sometime this week… Um, maybe, Friday at 2pm?” Tsugumi asks, her throat tightening a little from swallowing. “I’d…um, like to see you again.” She says.

Sayo raises her eyebrows, wanting desperately to find a place to hide and maybe scream because is she asking her on a date-

“Yes.” Her mouth opens before she realises it. “Absolutely. I- I can make it.” 

Gosh, she hasn’t even checked her schedule for that day yet, and she’s making promises. _Oh well, I can clear that day if it’s to see Tsugumi again._

Not only does she say that, Sayo brings her hand up to rest over Tsugumi’s hand on her arm. “I… would like to see you again as well.” Her voice softens, and Tsugumi’s expression melts.

Sayo could stay in this moment forever, her hands over Tsugumi’s, the two staring at each other so… _lovingly_.

Ah. Right. Tsugumi has come to the realisation hasn’t she? That’s why she’s acting so different, why she feels more fulfilled.

That’s why she kissed her, isn’t it?

“Excuse me, are you Sayo from Roselia?”

Sayo and Tsugumi snap out of their little world by the voice and pull away from each other. Sayo looks up to see a group of girls giggling amongst themselves, though eyeing Tsugumi a little dirtily.

She bristles at that.

“That’s... correct.” Sayo says anyway, because she doesn’t find it in herself to say no. The girls squeal and it seems like they’re going to say something further but Tsugumi beats them to it.

“S-So! Sayo-chan.” She says hastily, glancing between the annoyed fangirls and the celebrity herself. “Friday, right?” Tsugumi asks, looking into her eyes.

Those eyes are illegal, and so hypnotic she almost forgets about their problem with the fangirls. She nods her head. “Mm. I’ll see you on Friday.” Seeing Tsugumi’s overjoyed expression makes her smile.

Tsugumi lunges forward and wraps her arms around her. Sayo can hear the sharp gasps from the girls. She was a little shocked for a second or so, but she wraps her arms around her tenderly.

“Why are you provoking them intentionally, Tsugumi? I don’t want you to get into any trouble with them because of me…” Sayo whispers next to the girl's ear, though she tightens her grip on Tsugumi, really liking how she feels against her.

Tsugumi giggles, the action making her vibrate against Sayo. She brings her closer, similar to what Sayo did earlier, and whispers. “It’s okay. They can’t do anything to me.”

Sayo chuckles. “What happened to the Tsugumi who was conscious about her actions upsetting even the smallest of the animals?”

Tsugumi pulls away slightly. “I’ve changed, of course. You can’t expect me to age without maturing.” She answers, playfully pouting. Though, strangely, her eyes widen for a fraction of a second, almost as if she’s come into realisation.

Tsugumi unwraps herself from Sayo, her face completely red. “I’m so _embarrassed_ ! It was so obvious, how did I not _know?!_ ” She whispers frantically.

“T-Tsugu?” Sayo asks, confused about the sudden change in manner.

Tsugumi shakes her head. “I’ll see you later, okay, Sayo-chan? Bye!” She waves and runs away, her cheeks completely red, leaving a very confused Sayo in the dust.

“Um.” Sayo says. “I- Okay…” answering maybe too late, because she’s not even there to hear it.

She stayed in that place a second too long because the fangirls are swarming her before she realises.

“Sayo-san!” They exclaim, definitely flustered by the display from before. “Are you dating Tsugumi Hazawa!?” Looking at her in confusion and frustration.

“I…” Sayo trails off, lost by the outburst. “You guys know Tsugumi.. san?” Her eyebrow raises, a little intrigued.

They nod their heads. “That’s right! Tsugu is kind of famous around here! There’s all sorts of rumours about her, like her being in a band, that she was entangled in a romantic affair with a celebrity! That sort of thing.”

The girl at the front crosses her arms and addresses the rest of the girls. “That would mean that the celebrity she dated was… Sayo-san! But it looks like they’re still dating…” They deflate a little at the information.

“As expected of Tsugu though! She has good grades, she’s exceptionally kind, and on top of that, she manages her own cafe! She has always been remarkable, so of course she’d date someone just as amazing as her!” The girls exclaim, justifying the reasons a little.

“But isn’t that kind of unfair? Her life is basically set out perfectly for her!”

“Yeah, yeah!”

Sayo presses her lips together tightly, and leans back, wanting to scold the girls. “You girls… Tsugumi-san aren’t in a relationship. It’s true we had dated in the past, but that’s all.” She says, a deeper frown on her face.

They stare at her curiously. One girl pipes up, voicing their thoughts, “Your hug sure looked intimate though. Are you sure you’re not lying to us?”

She huffs, facing away, feeling the familiar feeling of anger rising. “Even if I were to lie to you, you have no right to barge in our personal lives and expect a proper answer. Tsugumi-san and I have a right to our privacy.”

They freeze in place, not sure to be angry because they didn’t get a clear answer with complete details, or to feel sorry for themselves because they just got scolded.

“I have to go now. Goodbye.” Sayo says coldly, and opens the door to her car. “Please do not bother Tsugumi-san about this topic.” She addresses them one last time before driving away, leaving the girls bewildered.

_Twang!_

The music stops.

Yukina turns to face a tense Sayo. Sayo notices the rest of the group looking at her with concern and it only makes her look down to avoid all eye contact.

“Sayo. Is there something wrong? That was the 8th time. And you usually never make mistakes in Determination Symphony.” Yukina’s clear voice cuts through the silence. She moves closer to Sayo so that she can’t look away.

“It’s… I’m sorry, Yukina-san. I promise it won't happen again.” Sayo apologises, bowing her head slightly.

“That’s what you said when you played the wrong note last time - Sayo, tell us what’s wrong.” Lisa’s voice rings out, and the sound of her setting her bass down follows. As does the sound of drumsticks being placed down on the snare.

Before long, the girls are standing around Sayo, eliminating all possibilities of escape.

Yukina looks down at her watch. “It’s fine if we end practice here.” She says. “We have only 10 minutes left in our time, so pack you guys. Ako. You can choose the place we go to today.”

Ako grins, “Really? Then there’s a specific cafe around here…”

Rinko pipes up, “The one with the NFO collab event?”

“Yep!”

At the mention of the game, Sayo perks up a little, though she shrinks a little when she realises they’re cutting practice short because of her. “There’s no need to stop practice. I assure you, I am fine.”

“Sayo.”

“Yes?”

“Be quiet and finish packing up.”

Sayo sighs at the commanding voice of their leader. “Okay, Yukina-san.”

The plate of fries is placed in front of them. “Enjoy your meal!” The waitress says, a little flusteredly. He definitely recognised the band. He walks away.

Sayo takes a fry and places it in her mouth, her worries melted a little from the taste. “This is good.” She mumbles, but when she looks up, she notices everyone's eyes on her.

Her cheeks warm at the attention. “What?” She asks, raising her shoulders defensively.

“Well…” Lisa starts the conversation. “What’s wrong, Sayo? What distracted you? Did you get in a fight with Hina or something?”

Sayo frowns and takes another fry. “No… I fought with some of our fans.” The words came out easier than she thought they would. “It was a little stupid. I dropped Tsugumi off at her uni a few days ago and they happened to witness it.” 

“They asked if Tsugumi and I were dating, and I got mad because they seemed to antagonise her a little just because we dated.” She sighs and rubs at her temples, feeling guilty.

Lisa takes a fry into her mouth. “Mm, yeah, some of our fans can get intense because of who we’re dating sometimes. It’s probably different in our case because we’re dating in the band and most of our fans like it.”

Yukina leans on the table to sip her coffee. “But we had something similar before, right Lisa?” She adds, looking at Lisa. Lisa nods her head and the group look at the couple curiously.

Yukina closes her eyes cooly and brings her cup up to her mouth. “A year ago, was it? A man came up to Lisa and I when we were quite obviously on a date.”

Rinko fiddles with her fingers, knowing the direction of the story.

Yukina continues. “He seemed to fancy Lisa. And he disliked me simply because we were dating. Luckily, the man wasn’t violent and settled for verbal abuse.”

Lisa laughs nervously, “Well, even if he wasn’t violent or anything, I may have taken it too far by slapping him and telling him off.”

Yukina looks at Lisa, “Ara? I actually like it when you’re being rough.”

“Lisa-san. Yukina-san. Please. Too much information.”

The silver haired girl blushes and shakes her head, “I didn’t mean it like that! I meant because she stood up for me, that’s what I liked…” The retort seemed weak even to the powerful singer.

They laugh at Yukina's expense.

“Thank you. I’m feeling much better now that I’ve spoken to you guys about this.” Sayo says, bowing her head slightly.

Lisa laughs, “Don’t be so formal! Of course we’d help you feel better!”

Sayo smiles and hums, “Still. Thank you.”

The girls all look to each other triumphantly, giggling. Then, Ako raises her hands, “Yes, yes, me, here!” She calls out, bringing the attention to herself now.

She points at Sayo. “I have a question, Sayo-san! While we’re on this topic!” 

Sayo points to herself, confused. “Yes…?” She asks, tilting her head slightly out of habit.

Ako coughs in her fist, a little dramatically. Her cheeks pinken slightly, “ _Are_ you dating Tsugu-chin?” She asks, starry eyed.

Sayo’s eyebrows raise. “Is there any particular reason about this query?” She asks tentatively, setting her hands on the table.

Ako looks over at Rinko, “Well, you see, Rinrin and I were on a date! Uh, a few days back! We kind of saw you and Tsugu-chin walking around hand in hand.” Rinko nods her head, looking invested in the question.

“What? What?” Lisa looks awfully interested in the topic at hand. She grins, “Sayo~ You didn’t tell me about any date with Tsugumi! Do you not trust us that much~”

“That is not the case, Lisa-san!” Sayo huffs indignantly. “A few days back…” She repeats Ako’s words, trying to recall which event she was referring to. 

Sayo brings her arms up and crosses them, tapping a finger on her arm. Ako must be referring to their outing with Hina.

“That… was not a date, sorry to disappoint. I invited Tsugumi to the mall with myself and Hina so we could catch up.” Sayo smiles, remembering the day, “It was a complete disaster though.”

“Disaster?” Ako repeats, looking for clarification.

Sayo leans back. “Hina and I were running late and had unfortunately forgotten to bring a mask and sunglasses or a hat to disguise ourselves.” She explains.

“We had to run back and forth from our fans. You seeing Tsugumi and I alone was Hina serving as a distraction for our fans so we could hide properly.”

Lisa laughs, “Hehhh~” She grins. “That sounds like a fun day. Why didn’t you invite us? I’d like to catch up with Tsugumi too! I barely got to talk to her when we ran into Afterglow the other day because she had to go to work.”

Sayo’s cheeks tint. “I apologise, maybe next time.”

“If you don’t…” Ako poses. “A dark curse will be placed upon you, you’ll be subjected to an _agonising_ retribution!”

“And what would that be?”

“I’ll make Tsugu-chin force you to eat carrots!”

Sayo pales. “Please. Anything but that.”

“I’ll invite everyone except for you to a dog cafe!”

She frowns, “That’s… not any better either.”

“Then make sure to invite us next time, okay?” Lisa cuts in, laughing amusedly at the usually stoic girl’s discontent expression.

“Okay then.”

“Then we’re fine!”

Sayo sighs out a breath of relief. “Is that all?” She asks.

Ako pouts. “You never actually answered my question from before! Are you dating Tsugu-chin?” She points out and Sayo winces.

She sighs. “No. We’re not dating. And… I’m not sure that we’ll date ever again in the first place, since Tsugumi doesn’t feel the same way.”

Lisa looks at her, a little frustrated. “You know, for someone that’s always so determined, you sure give up easily when it comes to Tsugumi. There’s no way you wouldn’t know she doesn’t love you if you haven’t _told_ her.”

Sayo sighs exasperatedly, “that’s the thing.” she says, gesturing outwardly. “I already confessed to Tsugumi. She rejected me.”

The girls gasp in shock.

“Oh… We had no idea…” Rinko says, looking guilty for something that wasn’t your fault.

At the sound of the sullen quiet girl, Sayo relaxes, now talking gently. “It’s okay. You guys didn’t know.” She says, and places a hand on Rinko’s shoulder to reassure her.

“Eh? If she rejected you, then how come you guys were talking so easily to each other before?” Ako asks.

Sayo huffs, “Even if she rejected me, Tsugumi is kind and doesn’t let my feelings for her affect our relationship. She might have gotten awkward with it in the past. She’s… changed.”

Lisa hums, “Do you like that?”

“Excuse me?” Sayo asks, confused.

“Do you like that she’s changed, I mean.” Lisa asks. “Because I love that Yukina has changed!” She pinches an unmoving Yukina’s cheeks. “She’s so much more open and honest with me compared to before, and I think it’s adorable.”

“That’s enough, Lisa.” Yukina says. Her cheeks are red.

Sayo looks at the bickering (were they bickering or flirting?)couple. She thinks back to the much different qualities of Tsugumi.

Her abilities to talk to other people, teaching them, and her growth in baking cakes and cookies.

Her features were more defined, and a more composed, kindness radiated from her. And though the word ‘adorable’ was what she would have first associated with ‘Hazawa Tsugumi’, the brunette also gives off a more quiet, mature confidence. So much about her just about screamed _womanly._

It’s something Sayo isn’t yet used to, having only been into contact with the girl for a month now, but it’s definitely something she would love to see over and over again.

“To answer your question.” Sayo says, making Lisa stop teasing her girlfriend. She looks up bashfully, “I do… like the changes that are apparent in Tsugumi.”

Rinko looks up, “Does that mean that… if you were given the chance… you would date Hazawa-san…?” She asks quietly.

Ah. Sayo knows what they’re doing. She knows Rinko is guilty because Sayo is the only single one in their group. It was the initial reason why she and Ako would sneak around for PDA rather than because she was shy.

“You don’t need to worry, Rinko-san.” Sayo says, smiling solemnly. “It does get lonely at times, being the… ‘Fifth-Wheeler’ of the group, but I do not mind at all. Seeing your relationships flourish and everyone being happy is enough for me.”

Sayo sighs. “But if, on the off-chance, Tsugumi _did_ ask me out… I would say yes.”

The members look pleased at the information. Except for Yukina, who looks more in pain than anything, staring at Sayo.

“Is something the problem, Yukina-san? Do you need another packet of sugar?” Sayo asks, curious. Yukina’s expression sours. “Actually? I can-”

“Sayo.”

Sayo stops moving, and looks at Yukina. “Yes?” She asks.

“What are you going to do if you date Hazawa-san and our hiatus has ended?” Yukina says, narrowing her eyes.

So that’s what this is about.

Sayo sits still, awaiting Yukina’s next words.

Yukina inhales and exhales, bringing her hands to her mouth. “We…” She glances over at Lisa and frowns, a sign she knows the next words will make Lisa tease her. “We love you, Sayo, and I would not stop you in your romantic endeavours. So, I'll only tell you this with your best interests in mind.”

“We aren’t staying forever, we still have more shows to do.” Yukina says, looking straight into Sayo’s eyes. “Not long ago, we got an offer to perform in Italy for after our hiatus.”

“If it doesn’t work out in the end, you could be bringing what you’ve worked hard for down because of your personal life.” Yukina states. 

Sayo looks down, thinking over Yukina’s words. “Yes… I admit, it could be messy compared to your relationships.” She says.

“In the past… I thought Tsugumi and I could not handle being away from each other. It is the reason why we broke up.” 

“I’d like to try, this time, if she would accept me. I feel that we will be fine with having a long distance relationship. Most of our concerts are in Japan anyway, so we will have many chances to meet again.”

Sayo exhales sharply. She feels out of breath, as if she said that with only one breath. Maybe she did, with how overwhelmed she’s starting to feel.

When she looks up, she sees that everyone is still staring at her.

“T-That’s right!” Ako’s voice cuts in. “When will you login for NFO, Sayo-san?” she asks, rather obviously trying to change the topic in conversation.

Sayo frowns. Ako continues. “There’s a new event that we really, _really_ , need you for!” She says, bowing her head as if begging her. “Please come online soon!”

Sayo perks up at the mention of a new event. She had cleared all the quests that her level could do so far, so talk of a new event is enough to make her interested.

“New event…? Please keep talking, Ako-san.” Sayo says. Rinko visibly relaxes at Sayo’s response, now fully invested in the conversation that they’ve swept themselves into.

“You know, that one demon boss! The one we struggled on before! It’s back!” Ako exclaims excitedly. Sayo frowns, they _did_ have trouble on that boss.

Rinko inputs, “Apparently… He’s a lot stronger than before… So it might pose an even greater challenge than before… We might end up fighting him 4 times… before we actually defeat him…”

Sayo crosses her arms. “I see. That does sound rather tedious.”

“Ah! But if we beat him, we get _super_ rare items and a _really_ cool looking cosmetic!” Ako says, before Sayo loses interest in the dungeon.

Rinko smiles at her girlfriend’s enthusiasm. “One of the items he drops... can make a super strong bow apparently...” She explains. “You were looking into finding a better bow right…?”

Sayo nods her head. “That’s correct.”

Ako slams her hands on the table. “This is your chance, then! Come on pleaaaase, we need an archer because there are some parts in the boss fight where magic doesn’t work on him~”

Sayo frowns, “That is quite the conundrum. Mages are most suited for solos, so they can’t solo this boss. I’m assuming this was done on purpose.”

“Yep! So, what do you say?” Ako asks, her smile widening in hopes for a certain answer from Sayo…

Sayo sighs fondly. “I had been planning on coming back to NFO soon. So yes, I’ll play with you two.”

Ako and Rinko cheer in excitement. “Yess, finally!”

Sayo shakes her head, chuckling at their reactions. “But I can’t play on Friday. I have an outing with Tsugumi on that day.”

Ako pouts, “Aw, man~ Friday after school is such a good time to play games~ Ok, fine then… boo…”

Lisa’s eyes are widened at the new piece of information. “Wait, more importantly, you’re going on a date with Tsugumi?”

Sayo’s cheeks warm. “It’s an outing.”

“Tomato, tomato.”

“It’s really not the same thing. We aren’t dating, after all.” Sayo says, closing her eyes to regain composure.

Even Yukina looks baffled at her reasoning. “A date can be a date even if it’s not directly called a date.” Yukina says, and Sayo feels almost betrayed at the girls input.

“This is coming from someone who just told me it might be a bad idea to date Tsugumi.” Sayo playfully quips.

“Well, I have no reason to doubt your reasonings. It’s as long as you don’t allow it to affect Roselia in any way.” Yukina calmly replies, though the smile on her face suggests she’s just as amused.

“Then if it does, I’ll have no choice but to ask you to aid me into building a time machine.”

Yukina smiles, “That sounds absolutely unnecessary and ridiculous. What would you do with it?”

Sayo hums, “Maybe I’ll just not have dated Tsugumi in the first place so we wouldn’t have been in this predicament in the first place.”

“Ara, are you fine with being the fifth wheel for even longer than two years, then?”

“I can’t say, but if worse comes to worse, I’ll have to beg you and Lisa-san to open your relationship to me.”

“I had no idea you were into that.”

Lisa looks between the two going back and forth, not sure whether to laugh or to make them stop. 

Is it a date?

Sayo can't seem to answer that question without spiraling off into more inquiries. She fidgets, having arrived at the place 30 minutes before their meeting time.

_“Lisa-san… If it’s no trouble… Could you please help me prepare for my… outing with Tsugumi?”_

_“Huh?! You mean like,_ **_style you up_ ** _?!” The brunette asks, excitement basically radiating off her. “What a surprise… You haven’t asked me to help you in so long!”_

_Sayo taps her chin, “The last time I asked for your help was when I invited Tsugumi to a high end restaurant.” She smiles fondly at the memory._

_They had dinner in a private room of the restaurant with such an incredible view of Tokyo. She can remember Tsugumi’s awed exclaims and their long, chaste kiss when their adoration was at its peak._

_Those were… good days._

_“Ahhh, I remember that~ If I recall correctly, even with everyone else pitching in for the date, it still took off a_ **_lot_ ** _of your money.” Lisa says grinning._

_Sayo winces. “Yes… That, I would never forget.” It was really expensive to pull that off._

Sayo looks down and plays with her flowy, light blue dress. This article of clothing is what Sayo would not pick first, especially when she believes that this doesn’t suit her. She places a hand over the buttons on her trench coat

She raises her hand to run over the braids in her hair, and down to thread to her hair which is flowing freely.

There’s no use fretting over her outfit. Lisa is most adverse when it comes to picking out outfits to suit a person, there’s no reason to doubt her sense.

“Sayo… chan…”

Sayo snaps out of her thoughts, turning her head to see Tsugumi and have her breath immediately hitch.

Tsugumi, too, has decided to don a dress, a shoulder exposing pastel yellow transitioning to white. Her sleeves end at her elbow and there’s a black belt hanging on her hips.

Sayo looks up at her face and sees she has brought some of the bangs on her face back with a sunflower clip she remembers seeing during their high school days.

She miles, thinking how it is fitting. Tsugumi had once told her Ran told her it represented _adoration_. Saying, ‘I only have eyes for you.’ Truly fitting how Sayo thinks of Tsugumi.

Sayo looks down, embarrassed at the thought. She notices Tsugumi is wearing thigh high socks and a pair of white sneakers.

“Hello, Tsugumi.” Sayo greets, because by the way Tsugumi’s face is flushing, it seems she won't be the one to start the conversation. “You look lovely.” She compliments gently, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder.

Tsugumi’s eyes widen in a way Sayo can tell she’s flustered. “S-Same to you, Sayo-chan!” She exclaims, stiffening. A moment later, she relaxes and then giggling.

“Though,” She starts, scratching her cheek nervously, “You are _always_ gorgeous, if I am being honest.” Sayo raises her eyebrows at that, her heart starting to pound painfully in her ears.

Tsugumi leans down a little and grabs Sayo’s hand. “Come on! I reserved a place I _know_ you’ll like!” She says, smiling widely.

Sayo allows her to guide her in the direction of the restaurant. “Is it Hazawa Coffee?” She asks, liking how Tsugumi’s ears redden. “Because I absolutely _adore_ that place.”

Tsugumi laughs shyly. “Cut back on the flattery please, I can only take so much of those from you in one day.” She says, looking up at Sayo.

Sayo feels happiness well up in her heart. She can feel it in her bones, warming her heart, tingling to her spine to the ease she feels around Tsugumi.

“I shall keep that in mind, then.”

They enter the shop, a melodic ring from the bell on the door signalling their entry. “Welcome!” A waitress at the front greets. “Table for two?”

“Yes.”

“This way then.”

The pair are brought to a table by a window. The waitress places down the menu in front of them. “Please call one of the staff when you are ready to order.”

Tsugumi and Sayo nod their heads and the waitress finally leaves. They open the menu.

“Do you know what you’re going to get?” Tsugumi asks, peeking from around the menu.

Sayo hums, “I’m not sure,” She answers. “If I should get this.” Pointing to the carbonara. “Or if I should maybe get this.” and she points over at the Lunch Set B.

Tsugumi looks over. “Ah! I see, as expected of Sayo.” She says, smiling. “I had chosen the Lunch Set B last time, and it tasted very nice. I recommend it!” 

Sayo smiles. “Then I shall get the set. Have you chosen what you wanted, Tsugumi?”

Tsugumi closes her menu. “Yep! I’ll get the carbonara! You seemed pretty interested in it, so I thought I might get it.” at the sight of Sayo’s guilt-ridden expression, Tsugumi stumbles.

“I- I didn’t know what I wanted to get, so you wanting another thing too was perfect!” Tsugumi explains and Sayo feels herself melt. She sighs, “I see, Tsugumi. It’s okay. Thank you.”

After they order their chosen meals, Tsugumi relaxes, breathing out a sigh of relief. Sayo looks at her, a little amused.

“This place seems rather homey. How did you find this with how secluded it was?” Sayo asks, and Tsugumi straightens her posture a little, now leaning forward on her forearms on the table.

“Hmm, it was actually Moca-chan who found it! She has a talent for finding good things even if they aren’t so obvious.” Tsugumi says.

Tsugumi’s smile widens for a second. “I remember Tomoe-chan was suspicious about this place. It was funny because she wouldn’t stop glaring around the whole place - the workers had to tell her to stop, and they looked terrified of her!” She giggles.

Sayo smiles, “Fufu, It seems you and your friends could never go through a normal day, can they?”

Tsugumi sighs, though with the way she’s grinning, it’s obvious she’s amused. “Never! Sometimes it gets overwhelming, but most of the time it’s fun.”

“Ara? What if that becomes your ‘normal’, and not as fun anymore? That would mean a normal day could become extra boring.” Sayo asks, 

Tsugumi laughs, melodic, free sound and it completely enraptures Sayo.

“If that day comes, I’m not sure what I would do!” Tsugumi says in between laughter. Sayo can feel her cheeks warm.

“Let’s hope it does not become that then.” Sayo answers, and shortly, the waitress returns with their food and drinks.

“Let’s eat before our food gets cold.” Sayo says and the two start eating.

In the middle of eating, Tsugumi calls out, “Sayo.”

Sayo raises her head and sees Tsugumi putting some of her carbonara on her fork. She raises it enough so her free hand can go under to prevent any spillage.

“Say ‘ah’” Tsugumi says, bringing the fork closer to the guitarist.

Without thinking, Sayo nods her head and takes a bite from the fork.

“Is it good?” Tsugumi asks, beaming, cheeks slightly red.

Sayo nods her head, “Mm. Yes, it’s very nice. Thank you for letting me taste some.”

Tsugumi giggles, “Ehehe… You don’t need to thank me! I did order this with you in mind, after all, so of course I’d want you to try some!”

Sayo smiles, and places some of her food in her spoon and raises it, making it obvious she wanted to feed Tsugumi too. “In that case… You said you enjoyed this meal last time, so I’d like to give you some.”

Tsugumi looks at her, embarrassed. She knows that there's no use fighting against her, with Sayo being extremely stubborn, so she succumbs to her fate and allows herself to be fed by Sayo.

Sayo pulls back, placing her utensils on her plate. “How is it?” She asks.

Tsugumi nods her head, “It tastes really nice!”

“I’m glad to hear that. Speaking of which, this place is quite nice. I wonder why they don’t choose to reside in a place where they’d get more customers.”

Tsugumi hums, “True.”

It’s not long until they finish their food and walk out of the restaurant.

“Is there any place in particular you’d like to go to, Tsugumi?”

Tsugumi looks up at Sayo who has been staring down at her for a while already.

Strangely, their hands are interlocked, and definitely have been interlocked for a long time. Sayo can’t remember when they started holding hands, but Tsugumi hasn’t made any move to stop holding her hand, so she figures that this is fine.

Tsugumi hums and shivers a little. “It’s getting a little cold… Maybe somewhere we can sit?”

Sayo looks out, “There’s a park nearby. Perhaps we can sit there.”

“That’s-” Tsugumi freezes. Sayo has moved their interlocked hands in her pocket for more warmth. “-perfect…” She trails off, looking down at her hand now in Sayo’s pocket.

Sayo looks away shyly. “For warmth.” She explained quietly, and Tsugumi nods her head, face completely scarlet.

The pair walk until they reach the park and sit on one of the benches. Their hands stay interlocked.

“I’m surprised we haven’t run into a single fan of yours.” Tsugumi comments, swinging her legs. “That day we were at the mall was really chaotic.”

Sayo smiles, “Fufu, did you want to experience it again? I admit getting chased by fans is exciting, but I prefer a calmer atmosphere. Like us being here together.”

Tsugumi giggles bashfully, “It was interesting, but I’m not sure I want to go through that again. It’s really tiring.”

“That’s true, it does get tiring at times.” Sayo crosses her arms.

“Does it happen often?”

“It does. Even with most intricate of disguises on, many hardcore of fans can find us and try to talk to us. But that’s only if Roselia goes out together. It’s difficult to identify us if we’re by ourselves.”

“Hehh~ It sounds kind of hard to go through.”

“Fufu. It really is.”

The two start laughing at the ridiculousness of Sayo’s fangirls. 

When they get their laughter out of their system, Sayo couldn’t really help but stare at Tsugumi, entranced by the younger girl once again.

 _She is so beautiful. She has grown to be so much more beautiful than she had been when we were teenagers_. Sayo couldn’t help but think that, smiling.

Tsugumi looks back up at Sayo, finally noticing the older girl staring at her. Her cheeks pinken a little. “Yes?” She asks, her smile ever so present.

Sayo uses her interlocked hands to bring them up and kiss Tsugumi’s knuckles, still keeping eye contact. “I was just thinking…” She starts saying.

She rubs her thumb over Tsugumi’s fingers, lets go of her hands briefly and then intertwines them again. Sayo can start to feel the adoration she feels for this woman washing up again.

“...that you really _are_ so beautiful. You’ve grown to be an amazing woman, Tsugumi.” Sayo admits, a little shyly. She looks down, her smile widening for a fraction of a second and her cheeks flaring.

She sighs, “I may have fallen in love with you all over again - after meeting you again and…” She looks up. “...witnessing your newer - matured side.”

When Sayo admitted this and looked up, she foolishly expected to see the woman blushing, enamoured by her earnest confession. To hear her say she reciprocated, followed by a hug or a kiss.

But Tsugumi stands from her seat, staring at her, tears welling up with an expression filled with despair and-

Is that- is that _fear?_

“Tsugumi-”

“I’m sorry.” Tsugumi sobs. “I’m so, _so_ sorry.”

This was nothing like the rejection from the month before. Tsugumi hadn’t cried last time, and she looks as if Sayo’s confession had taken her heart out and shredded it.

“Tsugumi. It’s okay. I was not expecting you to have feelings for me in the first place. You don’t need to apologise. I just… selfishly wanted to tell you of my feelings again.”

“That’s not it!” Tsugumi yells, and the tears are streaming down her face. “I’m _not_ _good_ _enough_!”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Tsugumi repeats. Her voice is cracking and her entire body is shaking. She’s furiously rubbing her hands on her dress. Sayo bends down hurriedly and reaches out for her hand, trying to calm her down.

“Tsugumi, please calm down!” She shouts, but to no avail. Tsugumi is in her own world, still repeating those words. Sayo can feel Tsugumi’s palms are sweating, that’s why she had been rubbing them on her dress.

Tsugumi pulls her hand away and brings them to her head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Sayo-san.” She says, clutching her head, shaking violently.

The signs are obvious. She’s having a panic attack.

“Tsugumi...! _Tsugumi_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUHAUWDHDUAIWyouremydadboogiewoogiewoogie NGGGGGAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!  
>  ....sorry. i had to get it out of my system.  
>  haha i may have gotten in a slump for a while. i don't even know myself what exactly made me go in a slump... whether it was me binging little witch academia(diana kinda cute :flushed:), the frequent calls with my friends, or me for some odd reason finding motivation to draw..... perhaps it was all of the above.  
>  happy bakugou day :)  
>  i hath decided to make the chapter title so much smaller compared to the other chapter names (which i made because i ramble.... a lot... lol). i feel like im getting a bit better at this.  
>  AGDAWYUDJAIWOIDWA I WROTE WAY TOO MUCH AGAIN. I wasn't planning on ending on the cliffhanger, i was planning on continuing that scene, and adding another scene and then ending it there. next thing i knew... i already had 7k words... and it was before the date even came.... this is what i mean by i ramble way too much. even my chapters become so long it's a little overwhelming (maybe.)  
> i hope you guys like having long chapters, because it seems that writing short chapters is almost impossible for me :skull: :skull:
> 
> My Twitter | Instagram(art) | Tumblr:  
> @Alienyanya
> 
> Thanks for reading :)


	5. gravity is matters response to loneliness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's getting hard to breathe. harder to stay connected with this world. maybe she should have just stayed in that little world she'd built in the two years. but sayo came back, and brought her back to this frightening world.
> 
> and sayo just wants to help the love of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have you noticed how bothered i've gotten with the summaries and titles.  
> edit: changed em! title is ellie chus quote in the half of it.

_Oh no. Not again._

“I’m sorry…! I’m so, _so_ sorry, Sayo-chan!” she yells desperately. Her throat feels scratchy, and dry, and it feels like she’d been screaming all day…

Ah… It feels like she’s falling. Looking up at an opening that seemed unreachable.

Like Sayo.

Sayo was unreachable.

She’s _wonderful,_ so _absolutely gorgeous_ it made it seem unreal that she was a real person who somehow loved _her_ of all people.

Tsugumi can’t breathe. Her head is pounding- or was it her heart beating violently through her ears? The blood rushing to her head made it hard to think.

The sounds don’t drown. They get louder. Every step felt like a punch to the head, making her inhale sharply - too much, her lungs feel like they’re going to collapse-

The lack of air causes a momentary dizzy spell, giving temporary relief to the intense pain she’s feeling. 

She clutches at her dress, the area just over her heart, and gasps desperately for _some air_ -

Her eyes are stinging. It hurts- it hurts so much. But it won’t stop.

 _Ah._ She sees white. _I’m going to die, aren’t I?_

She looks up briefly and sees Sayo. _She’s gonna be disappointed._ Tsugumi couldn’t help but think in the middle of her erratic thoughts.

_Because I’m like this-_

And more tears stain her cheeks. She squeezes her eyes shut, unable to stop her thoughts from going wild.

 _-broken._ _I can’t even get over this even though it’s happened before._

This only serves to make her clutch her head tighter. 

“...itake-san! I need your help!”

Tsugumi can feel her entire body weakening, her hands loosening their grip on her head. _You don’t deserve her._ Repeats like a mantra in her head.

 _She deserves someone better_ . _You’re worth nothing_.

Tsugumi can’t bring herself to refute the statement. She’s worthless, after all. To _think_ , she thought _she_ could be with _Sayo_.

No. Sayo deserves so much better than a _plain_ girl. Even her _role_ as a barista is _so basic_. It’s completely different to Sayo’s role as the gorgeous guitarist of Roselia.

_So then why are you out here with her if you don’t deserve it?_

Tsugumi’s heart lurches. _I… wanted to be with her._ She reasons with herself. _Even if I don’t deserve her, I still love her._

_If you love her, and you think you don’t deserve her, you should just let her go._

She chokes, resting her hands on her throat, her mind splitting into two. The taste of anxiety is salty, she recalls for a second.

 _Can’t I just be selfish this one time?_ Tsugumi begs, coughing violently and leaning down, meeting with Sayo’s body as she desperately inhales for more air. _I love her… please… I don’t want this to be taken away from me._

She sobs.

_Help me… Please… I don’t want this..._

* * *

Tsugumi’s cries make Sayo’s senses go haywire. Her hands desperately reach for her phone, almost dropping it and tapping harder than necessary to call the person who knows Tsugumi the most. Ran.

“...This is Mitake Ran.” Ran grumbles on the other side of the line.

“Mitake-san!” Sayo shouts, reaching out to hold Tsugumi’s shoulders to stabilise her. Her desperation is obvious in her voice. “I need your help!”

“...Sayo-san? What happened?” Ran’s voice becomes alarmed at Sayo’s exclamation.

Sayo inhales sharply, feeling her heart break at seeing her loved one breaking down like this. “It’s Tsugumi. She’s having a panic attack.”

There’s a clamour on the other side of the line. “Where are you at.” She demands.

“We’re at the park near Haneoka.” Sayo answers quickly, rubbing Tsugumi’s shoulders gently to try and remove the tension.

“Moca! It’s Tsugu! We have to go, _now_!” Ran shouts and she growls, “Did Tsugumi bring a bag?”

Sayo looks at the bag hooked around Tsugumi’s shoulders. “Yes.” She says.

“There should be medicine in there. They’re yellow tablets. If they’re not there… Make sure to calm her the best you can before I get there.” Ran says, breathing heavily.

Sayo immediately reaches out for the bag, easily unhooking it from Tsugumi’s shoulders.

“I’m coming. _Do not move._ ” Ran says.

Tsugumi’s cowering body trembled in front of her, terrifying Sayo. She looked so vulnerable. Sayo did this. Sayo made this happen. She should never have confessed - should never have tried to court Tsugumi again.

If she wasn’t here, maybe Tsugumi would have lived a better life-

Ran’s voice cuts through her thoughts sharply. “And stay calm, no matter what.” And promptly closed the call.

Sayo drops her phone, not caring what happens to it. She places a hand over her chest and inhales deeply - and then exhales, trying to get back her composure.

“Tsugumi.” Sayo says, holding onto Tsugumi’s shoulders. The girl coughs violently, her body wracking violently from the impact. Tsugumi leans down, obviously weakened by the attack.

“Tsugumi!” She repeats, and this time, Tsugumi’s attention is on Sayo. “Keep your eyes on me.” Sayo says, voice shaky, but doing the best she can to stay calm in this situation.

“Ok… Tsugumi…” Sayo says, and Tsugumi’s eyes are looking at hers. They’re so frightful… terrified… Sayo can feel her heart being shredded just by the mere look of vulnerability she’s faced with.

“Deep breaths, okay?”

Tsugumi inhales sharply, and she chokes, reaching her hands up to her neck. “Carefully!” Sayo inputs, leaning forward and grabbing her hands to prevent Tsugumi from choking herself.

“Breathe in… and out.” Sayo says, going along with Tsugumi’s shaky breathing. They repeat this a few times so that Tsugumi would have a steady rhythm to breathe to.

“Now… Mitake-san told me you have medicine to counter this. Can you tell me where they are?” She asks slowly. Tsugumi takes another unstable breath in, and exhales shortly after.

She nods her head, trembling. “T-They’re…” She starts, breathing a few times. “T-They’re in my bag…”

Sayo has a tight grip on Tsugumi’s bag. “Can you tell me which pocket they’re in?” She asks, her free hand grasping Tsugumi’s hand.

Tsugumi tightens her grip on Sayo’s hand, making her wince a little at the pain. “Tsugumi.” She calls, “Which pocket is your medicine in?” She repeats clearly.

“I-Inside the main pocket… t-there’s a s-small pouch… It’s a white p-pouch… The- Th-The tablets are ye-yellow…” Tsugumi quivers, squeezing Sayo’s hand every time she had to pause to take a breath.

Sayo opens the bag and finds the white pouch immediately. Inside were the tablets. Reluctantly, she lets go of Tsugumi’s hand briefly to free a single tablet and grab the bottle of water in her bag.

Sayo gently prys Tsugumi’s hands off her head into a position with her palms facing upward. She places the tablet on the hand and Tsugumi’s eyebrows furrow slightly.

“Put it in your mouth.” She says and Tsugumi tentatively brings her hands to her lips, resting it on her tongue. Sayo immediately hands her the bottle.

“Swallow.” A gulp.

Sayo breathes out a sigh of relief and takes the bottle off Tsugumi’s hands and sets it down. She reaches out, bringing the girl to an embrace and pats her back gently.

“It’s okay- _you’re_ okay now, Tsugumi.” Sayo whispers, and Tsugumi’s sobs start to calm down. “Just focus on my words and breathe in carefully.”

Sayo feels Tsugumi inhale, this time, so much more stabilised and it just-

Sayo feels a tear slide down her cheek.

Then another, and then even more.

Her legs stop working, and her grip on Tsugumi loosens. Tsugumi has stopped sobbing, now settling for just sniffling quietly.

Sayo is the one who is crying this time, “I’m so glad…” She whispers, sucking in deeply. “I was so scared - Tsugumi, you scared me so much…” she cries quietly.

“Ah…” Tsugumi’s croaky voice sounds, and she raises her hands slowly to stroke Sayo’s hair. “I-I’m sorry f-for scaring you like that, Sayo-chan…”

Sayo pulls away to wipe Tsugumi’s tears away with her thumb. “Tsugumi…” She whispers, staring at the woman she loves with concerned eyes. “Does this happen often?”

Tsugumi purses her lips, looking away from Sayo. Sayo cradles Tsugumi’s face in her hands, stroking her cheek gently. Tsugumi raises her hands to rest on Sayo’s hands and sighs, leaning into them.

“It used to…” Tsugumi admits, her voice cracking, and Sayo’s heart breaks.

“They stopped happening… maybe seven to eight months ago. Ran-chan told me to keep it- ah, my medicine, that is - in my bag just in case… I guess she was right…”

“Was there… a particular reason to why they started?” Sayo asks carefully, knowing that the answer might not be something that Tsugumi would want Sayo hearing.

Tsugumi looks up, eyes watery. She takes one of Sayo’s hands and fiddles around with it, interlocking their hands and squeezing lightly. Sayo watches, patiently awaiting her answer.

“I…” Tsugumi starts, mouth opening and closing, as if not sure how to phrase her next words. “I know you might not want to hear this but… I love you Sayo-chan. So much. I’ve always been in love with you.”

Sayo’s eyes widen at that. She doesn’t comment to let Tsugumi continue talking.

“But…” Tsugumi says, “We can’t be together.” She huffs firmly.

“No matter how much i want you… I _don’t_ deserve you. I’m just not good enough.”

“Tsugumi…” Sayo sighs, and Tsugumi shakes her head.

“I hurt you.” Tsugumi starts, closing her eyes and resting her forehead on the top of Sayo’s shoulders. “I know because Ako-chan told Tomoe-chan. The rest of Afterglow tried to hide it from me but I overheard them saying you were drinking a lot because of me…”

Sayo frowns. _I’m going to have to talk to Ako-san later._ She thinks idly.

“I can _never_ forgive myself for it.” Sayo feels Tsugumi shake her head on her shoulder. The air is grim at the statement, Tsugumi’s despair all put into that one sentence. It makes Sayo hold her breath, waiting for her next words.

“Besides that, you’re amazing! A celebrity! Your sound is so much more out there!” Her voice cracks toward the end.

“Everyday… you grow so much more out of my league.” Tsugumi’s voice is croaky. “I don’t want to drag you down for me and ruin your career.”

Tsugumi starts to whimper, and clings closer to Sayo. “But I don’t want to lose you.” She admits quietly.

Sayo lets go of the breath she was holding onto. She looks down at the trembling girl and pats her back, embracing her tightly and sighing deeply.

“Tsugu…” Sayo starts, but she doesn’t know how to continue it. Tsugumi keeps talking.

“Haru-chan… I thought I could move on from you if I dated someone else.” Tsugumi confesses, curling closer to Sayo. “It’s not something I’m really proud of because not only did I hurt you again… I had hurt _another_ of my friends. We may have stayed friends after it but I can’t help but feel _bad-_ ”

“Tsugumi!” Sayo hisses, pulling away and holding her at shoulder length, interrupting the brunettes rant. Tsugumi’s eyes widen at the tears rolling down Sayo’s cheeks.

“Please…” Sayo sighs heavily. “Please don’t say that about yourself.”

Tsugumi shakes her head, “I’m sorry.” Apologising for the nth time that afternoon. “I can’t help but feel that way though.”

Sayo looks down. “I know. I understand how you are feeling. I’ve… felt that way when we were apart. Can you believe I’ve been in love with you for two years without ceasing?” Sayo lets out a short croaky laugh.

“It’s… difficult to be without you.” Sayo says, lowering her voice to a whisper, as if the world would judge her for saying it. “I understand that everyone sees me as cold, or emotionless…”

“That’s far from the truth!” Tsugumi inputs, expression contorting into disbelief. “You are just as… as vulnerable to everything as I am, whoever says that doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”

Sayo smiles crookedly at that, and wipes her tears with the back of her hand. “I know that you know. But I suppose it’s one of the traits that I absolutely _adore_ about you. That you know me.”

Tsugumi’s cheeks flush.

“I suppose I’ll say it once more.” Sayo says, now much happier than she was before. “I love you Tsugumi.” Simple and sincere.

“You’ve always been so kind, and compassionate.” Sayo smiles gently at her memories of Tsugumi. “Always willing to put up with Hina even with everything she put you through.”

“That’s… I’m sure _anyone_ could have been vice-president. I only happened to be on her radar-” Tsugumi argues weakly, but Sayo shakes her head as a refutation.

“You’re _always_ doing things thinking of _other_ people. Do you not agree it’s time for you to think of _yourself_ , for once?” Sayo reasons, taking Tsugumi’s hands to just hold them.

“I have never thought you could _ever_ ruin anything I have, only make it better.” Sayo utters with the same conviction she had each time she told Tsugumi she loved her.

“If I tell you I want you, is that not enough for you to believe in yourself?” Sayo asks and lets go of Tsugumi’s hands, bringing one hand down to nervously rub on her dress, the other one cupping Tsugumi’s cheeks.

She leans forward to press a soft kiss on Tsugumi’s cheek.

“That if I tell you that you are the most amazing person I’ve come to know…”

She presses another kiss on Tsugumi’s forehead.

“Will you start to think that of yourself?” Sayo asks, staring at her with hopeful eyes.

Tsugumi stares at Sayo dazedly, her cheeks flushed and lips parted. A small smile creeps on her face, “I don’t know, maybe if you tell me that again, I might believe it.”

Oh, this _adorable_ minx-

Sayo smiles gently in return and sighs, “Are you feeling better now, then, Tsugumi?” She asks, as a confirmation - but the brunette’s beaming expression tells her everything she needs to know.

“Yes! Thank you, Sayo-chan.” Tsugumi answers giddily. She leans forward to embrace the taller girl’s waist. “Can we stay like this for a moment?” She asks quietly.

Sayo stares down at the girl and wraps her arms around her neck. “Our dresses are going to get dirty.” She complains playfully. 

Tsugumi giggles, tugging Sayo closer, and says “It’s fine.” through her laughter. It slowly ends and Tsugumi exhales sheepishly.

“You know…” Tsugumi murmurs, “A few months after we broke up… I… overworked myself and ended up collapsing. I was unconscious for four days and hospitalised for a week.” She admits.

Sayo’s heart aches at that. “That… That’s terrible… I’m sorry.” She’s not sure what else to say.

Tsugumi lets out a watery laugh. “It’s okay. It was mostly my fault for using such extreme ways to try to get over you.”

Sayo frowns. “If I knew that was going to happen, I would have never broken up with you. I thought it was best if we did, but clearly…”

Tsugumi shakes her head. “It’s really fine. We have each other now, don’t we?” She asks. “And isn’t that all that matters?” She giggles.

“Tsugumi…” Oh _,_ how much Sayo wants to kiss her at that moment.

“Tsugu!”

The two raise their heads and separate at the yell. Ran is running at full speed at them, with Moca behind her, dramatically panting heavily.

“Ran-chan?” Tsugumi stands up, and Sayo quickly follows after her. Sayo recalls that Ran was never one for physical intimacy but the conception is shattered when she runs headfirst to hug Tsugumi.

Moca finally catches up to Ran, heaving, but reaching out to hug the pair.

“W-What are you two doing here?” Tsugumi asks, confused, but obviously happy to see Ran and Moca. She bends a little to reach Moca’s waist. “Did something happen?”

“You’re okay?” Ran says, looking at her concernedly. “Sayo-san called me and we ran the whole way.”

“ _The whole-_ Are you okay, Moca-chan? Isn’t that hard on you?” Tsugumi asks incredulously.

Moca grins, “Anything for you~ Tsugu~” And she frowns for a moment, “Sayo-san~ Said you had a panic attack~” Moca gasps loudly for more air, though it seems so obnoxiously fake. ”So of course I’d run~ Because it’s _you_ ~”

Tsugumi blushes and grins, “Ehehe~ I’m flattered. Thank you, Moca-chan, Ran-chan. But I’m fine now! Thanks to Sayo-chan!”

Sayo feels her face heat up when all three of the girls look at her, one with adoring eyes, one with suspicion and the other with an unnerving neutrality.

“Mm.” Ran grumbles a little. She breathes out a sigh of- exasperation or relief? Sayo couldn’t really tell. Ran was always the second most unreadable in Afterglow. Moca coming first by a landslide.

“Can I talk to you for a second, Sayo-san? Alone.” Ran asks. Tsugumi looks between them with a confused look as Moca guides the brunette to the bench.

“Yes, of course.” Sayo answers, a little unsure. Ran walks over to her, glancing over her shoulder, assumedly to check if Tsugumi is far enough to have a private conversation.

“I’m going to be blunt. Did you cause the panic attack?” Ran asks, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms. “Because everytime she had a panic attack in the past years, it had to do with _you_.”

Sayo frowns and looks down. What caused the panic attack? Was it her sudden confession? It… was, wasn’t it…?

Oh. She’s the reason for her ex-girlfriend's grief.

...She’s surely the _worst_ person in the world.

 _No_. Tsugumi wouldn’t want her thinking this way.

Sayo inhales deeply and looks Ran directly in the eye. “Yes. I believe my abrupt confession had… triggered her anxieties.” She says.

Ran growls, moving forward and grabs the collar of her coat. Sayo flinches, surprised at the movement. “Ran-chan! What are you doing!?” She hears Tsugumi yell, and one look shows Moca holding the brunette back, watching Ran and Sayo with a surprisingly worried expression.

For a minute or so, Ran and Sayo are staring at each other directly in the eyes, Ran looking for any sort of malicious intent or faltering. Sayo can see the unbridled rage slowly calm down as Ran is given more time to think.

“Okay.” Ran eventually says, finally letting go of the teal haired girl's coat. Sayo sighs in relief and brings her hands up to straighten her coat. “Sorry about that.” Ran mumbles.

But Ran brings her hand up again to point at Sayo’s chest and poke it roughly, “Don’t break her heart again.” She says. “She’s fully convinced herself that she’s completely over you, but I know her better than anyone else and definitely better than you know her and so I know she’s lying to herself.”

Ran squints, keeping eye-contact. “Take care of her or else.”

Sayo chooses not to comment that Tsugumi had just professed her love to Sayo and is probably not in denial anymore.

She nods her head and opts for: “Of course.”

“Good.”

Moca finally lets go of Tsugumi, who runs to Ran and pulls her away from Sayo. “What - what are you doing to Sayo-chan?” She asks sternly, placing her hands on her hips.

Ran shakes her head, “We were just talking.” she explains briefly, pursing her lips briefly. “I was asking her for what happened.”

At this, Tsugumi’s face lightens in understanding. “Even so, you didn’t need to grab her like that.” She frowns.

“...Sorry.” Ran apologises, lowering her head guiltily.

Tsugumi sighs and gives Ran a quick hug. “Okay. It’s fine. But you can’t do that next time, okay?”

Ran huffs and crosses her arms, “If she wants to live, she should make sure there _isn’t_ a next time-”

“ _Ran-chan_.”

Ran staggers, looking at Tsugumi nervously. “Yeah, okay, sure. I won’t do it next time. Promise.”

Moca laughs at the exchange and drapes herself along Ran’s shoulders. “I’ll keep her in line~ Instead of bending to her will, next time~” She drawls playfully.

Ran rolls her eyes, smiling, “I thought I told you to hold her until I say so.” she berates jokingly.

Moca grins widely in return, “Tsugu is too tsugurific to be-” A not so subtle cough, “- _tied down_ by me~ But perhaps someone else may be able to _pin_ her down easily~”

The pun and innuendo does not go over Sayo’s head, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t ignore it.

“Ahaha…” Tsugumi laughs nervously, her pink cheeks giving away her understanding of Moca’s words. “Please don’t joke like that.” She looks over at Sayo for a second before her cheeks flare. Tsugumi looks away again.

“Righhhht, sorry~~”

Sayo sighs, glad that the situation was resolved peacefully and that Tsugumi is safe now. Witnessing the girl in that vulnerable state _terrified_ her, and Sayo would rather that would never happen ever again.

She wipes away the dirt on her dress idly, mind blank and eyes on the ground for a few moments. She’s not quite sure what to do now with the interruption.

When Sayo looks up, she notices that the sun is going down. It’s getting late. Perhaps it’s time to go home now.

Sayo walks to Tsugumi while Moca and Ran are busy bantering. “Well.” She starts, bringing the brunettes attention to herself. “That was quite the interesting outing, wasn’t it? Shall I walk you home, now?” She asks.

Tsugumi looks to Sayo curiously. Sayo coughs in her fist, a little embarrassed. “It’s getting a little late…” She gestures to the sun going down.

Tsugumi looks over to the sun going down, turns to look at Ran and Moca, and then back to Sayo. She smiles and reaches down to hold her hand.

“Not yet.” Tsugumi says and Sayo makes a noise of confusion. “There’s a sunset so we absolutely must not leave yet.” The brunette says, and pulls Sayo along.

“Guys, the sun is going down! How about we go to… _that_ place?” Tsugumi tells Ran and Moca. The couple look at her.

“Oh~ _Naisuu ideyaa_ ~” Moca exclaims in broken english, jumping over to her. “Let’s go, lets go~ Are you coming, Ran?~”

Ran’s lips curl up and she chuckles a little. “Of course I’m coming. It’s been a while since we’ve gone there.”

Tsugumi giggles and nods her head, “Yeah! Ever since we’ve gone to college it’s been really hard to get time together. Maybe when Tomoe-chan and Himari-chan come back to Japan we can go to the place together again.”

Tsugumi drags a completely confused Sayo over to a direction. When they arrive, Sayo recognises the school. Haneoka. Her eyes open widely in shock.

“Is… Is this not breaking and entering?” Sayo asks nervously, but still follows Tsugumi to the emergency exit.

Tsugumi giggles, “Well, maybe it is.” She admits, a little guiltily. “But it’s okay! The emergency exit is always open for club members who have to stay back until dark.”

“They won’t even know that we’re here~” Moca chimes in, though it doesn’t do much to quell her worries.

Sayo looks around. She’s not very familiar with the school, having transferred before high school to run away from Hina. This must have been the scenery that Tsugumi saw everyday back in high school.

Sayo notices Moca suspiciously walking off without them into one of the classrooms. Tsugumi and Ran hadn’t noticed. She considers telling them about it but ignores it.

Moca probably knows her way around the school, so she’s likely not going to get lost.

“Wow~” Tsugumi exclaims, “That’s our old classroom over there.” She points, looking over at Sayo.

“It was surprising that we all ended up in the same class again in our last year.” Ran comments, smiling fondly at her memories. “I’m glad, though.”

Moca - appearing out of _nowhere_ , startling Sayo - wraps an arm around Ran’s arm and hums, “It must have been the power of divine intervention!~ Perhaps it was Baban-” “Moca-chan no!” “-ma who allowed us to be in the same classroom again~”

Sayo stares at Moca, who seems to be just as confusing as she was two years ago. “Baba… what…?” Sayo asks, sounding the seemingly random words Moca said out. She looks over at Tsugumi who tried to stop Moca from talking.

Moca raises her hands to her lips, pretending that she wasn’t meant to say those words. “Moca-chan’s lips are sealed.”

“What’s up with that.” Ran laughs at her girlfriend's antics but as Sayo looks at her closer, Ran seems just about as confused as Sayo was.

Moca makes a muffled sound and shakes her head. Ran scoffs playfully. “Whatever. Look. We’re nearly at the roof.”

They open the door and-

It’s magnificent, the view.

The sky stretches far, colours ranging from red to orange, to the prominent yellow and the subtle purple in the clouds. 

Sayo feels a rush of emotion at the view. _This_ was something Tsugumi loved and saw so much in high school, and somehow, Sayo found herself also falling in love with this view.

Tsugumi rushes forward, exclaiming in glee. “We made it!” She squeals, pulling Sayo across the roof to the railing. 

She points over at the blinding sun dimming, creating the orange sky and spreading to a myriad of colours. The city below them, so small. Their worries were quickly forgotten. 

It felt as if she could do anything in this view.

Perhaps Tsugumi felt the same way when she saw this view.

Not only that, but Tsugumi would be reminded of the bond she has with Afterglow. That no matter where they were, they were connected, and their bond would never break.

Sayo’s face heats up. Perhaps that was a little bit corny to think about.

“It’s beautiful.” Sayo says, staring out into the distance. “I think I’m starting to understand your affixion with sunsets.” She comments, smiling gently.

Tsugumi nods her head with a wide smile. “It’s been so long since I’ve been here - and seen this view. It’s amazing every time.”

She reaches out and holds Sayo’s hand. Sayo turns her head around and faces Tsugumi, staring at her confusedly.

With a bashful expression, cheeks flushed, pupils dilated - it’s _that_ expression again. The one that makes Sayo’s heart squeeze and be reminded that _this_ is the girl she _loves._

“It’s just one of the things I _love_ so much.”

Sayo’s face hits her pillow. She groans, voice muffled by the pillow. Her face is steaming at the memory.

Was it a sign that Tsugumi wanted to get back together again? If she’s just assuming, Sayo could come off as desperate, having confessed _three_ times already and been rejected for two of them.

Tsugumi _did_ tell her she loved her though. Even if it was just to explain her self-destructive thoughts. It’s possible she’s not ready for that kind of commitment again.

Sayo groans for the nth time that evening.

Understanding love was most definitely not her strongest point.

“What’s wrong onee-chan~” Hina asks, spinning around in her chair. “Did your date go bad?” She asks, grinning mischievously.

She’s met with another groan and Hina laughs, “Ahahaha! That bad, huh?”

“Sayo-san! Don’t worry! There’s always the next time you meet!” the speakers boom, Ako’s voice cuts through the silence.

“If it helps… Maybe we could ask Tomoe-san for some help…” Rinko’s much softer voice says.

Hina’s expression lightens at Rinko’s suggestion. “Oh yeah! That’d be pretty boppin’! What do you say, onee-chan?”

Sayo rolls over with another groan. “Under normal circumstances, I would thank Rinko-san, tell _you,_ Hina, to get out of my room (“Ehh?”), and tell Ako-san to control her volume.”

She sits up straight, looking at a pouting Hina. “My problem is… I suppose, actually _opposite_ to what you are thinking.”

“Opposite?” Ako asks, and then intense clicking noises are heard. “Nice recovery, Rinrin! When are you coming in, Saaaayo-saaaan?”

Sayo huffs, “Soon. When Hina leaves my room.”

“Ah, then,” Ako coughs in her mic, “Hina-san, exit Sayo’s realm of darkness so… she can kick butt with us!” Sayo frowns. _Realm of darkness?_

Hina’s pout deepens. “I won’t leave until onee-chan tells us what happens!” She exclaims, stretching her arms outward, fingers curled in a fist, and then crosses her arms, staring at Sayo intensely.

“Yes.. I’m quite curious too…” Rinko pipes in, and Sayo’s face turns red.

“Hah… I guess I have no choice.” Sayo straightens her back and rests her palms on her knees.

She bashfully looks away. “So yesterday, I had an outing with Tsugumi.” In the corner of her eye, she sees Hina bristling, opening her mouth to intercept but Sayo quickly responds, “I know that it might have been a date, but it wasn’t definite, so I will continue to label it as an outing.” 

Sayo glares at Hina who sits back down in her chair. She continues.“She brought me to a secluded restaurant that served nice food. The service was rather nice as well. Apparently Aoba-san was the one who found it. Then we went to the park.”

Sayo pauses, holding her breath.

“We ran into a bit of a problem which was eventually solved.” Sayo says, keeping things as vague as possible. “Mitake-san and Aoba-san became involved in the problem and joined us for the rest of our… outing.”

Hina nods her head, clearly invested in the story. Sayo nearly laughs at the look of concentration on Hina’s.

“We… infiltrated Haneoka and watched the sunset.” Sayo says, feeling a little bad for entering school grounds without permission.

“Ah!” Ako exclaims all of a sudden. Definitely snapping her fingers, the sound making Sayo wince. “So that’s why Moca-chin was there!” 

“Ah… Did you see them…?” Rinko asks. “Minion to your left… Ako-chan…”

“Oh, thanks Rinrin!” Fast paced clicking was heard, and then a triumphant exclamation from Ako. “Woo! We’re the best duo out there!” she declares.

Rinko laughs happily. “As I was saying…” Ako mumbles, “Moca-chin walked into the dance club room randomly and we talked a bit! She didn’t tell me why she was there, but I guess I know now!”

Sayo suddenly remembers the moment Moca slipped away and came back without Tsugumi and Ran noticing. “Ah… I recall her slipping away in the middle of our conversation. It seemed neither Tsugumi nor Mitake-san noticed her disappearance.”

The group laughs at that. “Ah, man, I wish I was there!” Hina whines, crossing her arms. “It would have been real boppin’ to see the new president!”

Sayo shakes her head, placing her head on her forehead. “If you were there, we would not have made it to the rooftop before the sunset finished. Your fans are much more intense than Roselia’s fans.”

Hina laughs, “I guess so! Still, I miss Haneoka~ If you won’t come, then that’s fine! That just means I’ll be going on a date with Tsugu-chan…” she smiles slyly. And then she sticks her tongue out playfully. Sayo rolls her eyes, _where did that come from?_ Nevertheless, she plays along with her sister’s antics.

Sayo glares at her, “If you do that, I’ll bring Maruyama-san to Hanasakigawa.” She straightens her posture and crosses her arms. “I’m sure I can plan a proper and enjoyable date that won't wear her out at the end of the day.”

“Eh~ That’s too boring! You gotta go _hard_ when it comes to dates!”

“...I can’t believe that’s your only problem with me doing that…” Sayo can never truly understand her sister.

She sighs and then puts her hands together to sound a small clap. “Okay. That’s all. Hina, please leave so I can play NFO.”

“What!? But you didn’t even say anything about why you were groaning!” Hina whines and Sayo scowls. “I thought we were here to give you advice!”

Sayo huffs, “You shouldn’t have assumed, then.”

“Ehh~ I want to know too! Don’t you also want to know, Rinrin?” Ako interjects, whining in her mic.

“Yes… Please tell us so we can help you, Sayo-san…” Rinko responds, though Sayo knows she’s only going along with her girlfriend.

Sayo growls and gives in. _Peer pressure is dumb_. She thinks briefly.

“Fine.” Sayo relaxes again. “When I complimented the sunset, Tsugumi agreed with me. She turned to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘It’s just one of the things I love so much’.”

Ako gasps and then chokes. “A-Ako-chan!” Could be heard through Rinko’s microphone.

“I-Isn’t that basically a confession!? She confessed to you!? Are you guys _dating_ , _finally_ , again!?” Ako asks, her voice raising in excitement. “Does that mean we don’t have to deal with your moping, like, ever again!?”

Sayo frowns. “How rude.” She comments and Ako lets out a hasty apology, “sorry!”

Sayo sighs. “No. We’re not dating. After she said that, Mitake-san and Aoba-san called her over to take photos to send to Tomoe-san and Uehara-san.” she says. “We didn’t talk about it after that-”

“Are you _kidding_ me!”

Hina lunges at Sayo, pushing her against the bed. “All that development and y’all aren’t dating! That ain’t _boppin’ at all!_ ” Hina shrieks like a madman, shaking Sayo’s shoulders back and forth.

“Hina! Get off me! You’re heavy!” Sayo exclaims, pushing Hina off her and inhaling deeply to gain some of her breath back.

Sayo stands up, towering over a raging Hina. “What has gotten into you!” Sayo scolds. “Why did you jump at me like that!?”

Hina stands up, tripping a little. “Onee-chan! You can’t possibly be thaaat oblivious! I’m sure you already know she’s all shwooby dwooby for you!”

“I… Well, she hasn’t really been _subtle_ about it. But that doesn’t necessarily mean she’d want to date me.” Sayo says, crossing her arms, clutching at them.

“Of course she would! Who _wouldn’t_ want to date you?” Hina retorts back.

Sayo’s mind flashes back to every time she was rejected by Tsugumi. Her heart clenches violently and she winces. 

She really can’t help but think back to when Tsugumi-

_Tsugumi’s cowering body trembled in front of her, terrifying Sayo. She looked so vulnerable. Sayo did this. Sayo made this happen. She should never have confessed - should never have tried to court Tsugumi again._

_If she wasn’t here, maybe Tsugumi would have lived a better life._

It was almost a miracle that she was able to help Tsugumi properly. One wrong move might have… made things even worse. And she-

Sayo can feel the tears welling.

“Tsugumi, _clearly_. In case you forgot, she’s already rejected me.” Sayo hisses angrily.

Hina’s eyes widen, feelings Sayo’s mood shift. “Yeah, but-”

“Enough. Hina.” Hina flinches at Sayo’s cold voice.

“Please… just leave.” Sayo goes to her laptop and leaves the call. “I’d like to be alone.”

Sayo closes her eyes tightly, not sure how long she had been standing there. A warm pair of arms circle her waist and she quickly realises that Hina is hugging her.

“Hina-”

“Onee-chan.” Hina says, interrupting the older twin. “Whatever happened to you and Tsugu-chan, I know you’ll get through it.”

The uncharacteristic emotion - the _tenderness_ in Hina’s voice rips Sayo’s heart out painfully.

“What if it might hurt her…?” Sayo asks.

“You’re not thinking of rejecting her are you?”

Sayo lets out a watery chuckle. “No. Of course not. I could never, even if I wanted to.”

“Then it should be fine!” Hina whispers. “Just be brave. You can do it.”

Warm arms pull away, lightly patting Sayo’s back and then she can hear the door close. Sayo sighs and lies down in her bed. What is she doing, being like this? It does no one any good by feeling sorry for oneself.

“I guess I’ll just go get some rest.” Sayo mumbles and closes her eyes.

When Sayo had entered the studio, she could practically feel Rinko and Ako staring at her. She had tried her best to ignore them but they were so obvious that even _Yukina_ knew it.

She glances at Ako who immediately turns the other way, laughing nervously. Sayo sighs deeply.

“Sayo~? What’s wrong?” Lisa asks. It feels like she’d been asking that a lot recently. “You didn’t get in trouble with a certain adorable barista lately, did you?” The brunette smirks.

Sayo huffs. “I did no such thing.” She says, sitting down cross legged to tune her guitar again.

Lisa looks at Rinko and Ako and smiles at them, waving. She leans down. “Then what about our demon princess drummer and her mage support pianist? Did something happen in your… what was it, gaming session?”

Sayo looks up. “Perhaps.” she answers simply. She strums the top string and frowns when it’s untuned. She reaches toward the pegs. “Hina and I had a fight.”

Lisa’s eyes widen, and then she bursts into laughter. Sayo pauses her movement to look at her confusedly. “I don’t think that was meant to make you laugh.” She responds, now moving again and twisting the pegs.

This only serves to make Lisa laugh harder. “It’s just-” She laughs a little, “You’ve been getting into fights left and right while we’re in Japan.”

Sayo blushes and looks away. “No I haven’t.” She denies.

Lisa sits down next to Sayo. “It’s fine! Though it’s a little worrying about why you’ve been so moody lately… are you on your period?”

Sayo’s lips purse. She actually _was_ on her period. “Maybe.”

Lisa’s lips curl up in a smirk. She opens her mouth to make a teasing remark but thankfully stops midway. Her expression softens. “Anyway, it’s fine, isn’t it?”

Sayo looks at her curiously, nodding her head to signal for Lisa to expand on her question.

“I mean.” Lisa coughs a little, “Hina loves you a lot~ There’s no way she could hate you no matter how bad you do.”

Sayo sees the exact moment Lisa’s face goes from soft to contemplative. Lisa raises her hand to her chin. “She might _actually_ help you hide the body if you killed someone. Wait, did you kill someone? Please tell me you didn’t.”

“I did _not_ kill anybody.” Sayo deadpans, feeling an intense urge to facepalm. 

“Oh, good.” Lisa sighs out a breath of relief. “I was just making sure that nobody in Roselia has a criminal record.” 

Sayo raises a brow, “How ironic. I recall a time where you and Yukina-san broke into a house so you could swim in their pool. Naked.”

Lisa squeals, face bright red. “Nooo nonono. NO. You _can’t_ bring that into this chat when we’re having a serious conversation, missy!” She exclaims, making the rest of the band look at them.

Sayo sighs exasperatedly, remembering the day like it was just yesterday. “You’re lucky the residents of that house were such a big fan of us. Otherwise we would have gotten into a hiatus for a reason that isn’t Ako-san’s academic future.”

Lisa fakes a gasp, “You’re overexaggerating.” And places a hand on her chest dramatically. “Everyone loves us too much to get us into jail.”

Sayo smiles amusedly, “The more of that mindset that you have, the more likely you are to do something even worse next time.”

Lisa snorts. “You didn’t deny that they love us.”

Sayo rolls her eyes, “With the amount of times we’ve had to run away, I can only agree with your statement.” she shakes her head, shoulders raised.

Lisa clutches her stomach and laughs loudly. “That’s definitely true!” She exclaims, patting Sayo’s back. “Okay but- seriously. What made you and Hina get into a fight?”

Sayo frowns, and idly strums her guitar. “She got mad at me because Tsugumi and I aren’t dating.” She says.

Lisa hums. “Yeah, that is pretty shocking. You’d think the two of you would be dating by now~” She teases, poking Sayo’s now red cheek.

Sayo swats Lisa’s finger away and crosses her arms. “It’s fine. It’s not like I absolutely have to date someone.”

Lisa raises her brows, “Ehh? Well, I guess that’s true. It’s a pretty sad life, unless you like that.” And she smirks. “And if I recall correctly… You can’t _live_ without Tsugumi.”

Sayo can feel her face heating up. “There’s hardly any truth in that statement. I had spent my first 16 years without her, who is to say I can’t live any more years without her?”

Lisa raises a brow at that statement. “You almost gave yourself alcohol poisoning because of her. _Also_ you weren’t in love with her in those years, so it doesn’t count.”

The tension grows, with Lisa and Sayo staring at each other for a minute. Sayo can see that underneath her amusement, Lisa is actually concerned over Sayo. And that makes her heart ache in guilt.

Lisa laughs again, breaking the tension easily. “So, why aren’t you two dating?”

“It’s simple. She just doesn’t-” Sayo pauses. Tsugumi’s words ring loudly in her head, immediately cutting her words off.

_“I love you Sayo-chan. So much. I’ve always been in love with you.”_

It’s the way she said it that makes Sayo’s heart ache. So full of repressed emotion that Sayo wouldn’t have noticed it if she hadn’t known Tsugumi as much as she does. It was like she doesn’t want to love Sayo because it hurts _too much._

“...” Sayo looks down pensively. “The day of… our outing.” She answers quietly.

Lisa’s amused expression quickly softens to an open concern. She looks over at an unpleased Yukina and smiles apologetically. “This is important.” She mouths.

Yukina frowns and sighs. “We’ll have a 30 minute break.” 

Ako and Rinko go to each other and start talking, taking not-so-subtle glances in Sayo’s direction. Yukina leaves the studio strangely giddily. Most likely to buy the limited edition cat shaped foam coffee she was eyeing before.

Sayo sighs and fiddles with her fingers, a habit she’s gained from Tsugumi. “The day of our outing. I told Tsugumi I loved her again. It… triggered an anxiety attack.”

Lisa gasps, bringing her hands up to her mouth in shock. “Oh… Sayo…”

She nods her head at the reaction. “I now realise my feelings must be… something that hurts her. The way we feel toward each other might be… toxic…”

“Sayo…”

“I’m scared of hurting her again. I’d rather be hurt than hurt her.” Sayo’s voice breaks at saying her fears out loud.

Lisa frowns and gives Sayo a short hug. “Sayo…” She opens her mouth, and then closes it, looking up in contemplation. “I get where you’re coming from but… you helped her in the end didn’t you? You gave her her medicine and had a heart-to-heart!”

Sayo pulls away confusedly. “How do you know that?”

Lisa laughs nervously. “Well to tell you the truth, Moca already told me what happened. She pulled Ran aside for a moment so they didn’t stop you two from talking...”

Sayo frowns, “They could have helped me then.” She crosses her arms, looking down crossly. “If they were there, they should have come to us earlier. Do they _not_ care about-”

Lisa smiles solemnly and shakes her head, effectively cutting off Sayo’s rant. Lisa says, “She told me that Tsugumi needed to talk to you in order to properly heal.”

“Heal?” Sayo repeats, furrowing her eyebrows, confused.

Lisa nods her head. “Mm. She had been pushing herself because of you, right? And you had been drinking. Both because of each other. You both needed to talk to each other to sort things out.”

Sayo nods her head, following along. Lisa looks at her. “You sorted things out, right? She told you she loved you. Right?”

Sayo pauses. “Even so, what if she doesn’t want to be in a relationship at the moment?”

“Then that’s fine too, isn’t it? You can just stay by her side. Like you said, you don’t _absolutely_ have to date her.” Lisa says.

Sayo stares at her. Talking to Lisa always clears things in her head, and heart. Even at this point in the conversation, she can feel a strain on her heart start to lift.

Lisa grins. “Now. I know you were thinking of trying to _seriously_ move on from our dear sweetheart Hazawa Tsugumi…” she starts.

Sayo hates how easily Lisa can see through her.

“But _what if_ she’s the one who confesses first?”

“Lisa-san.” Sayo sighs. The tip of her lips lower. “I’m not sure if I could ever move on. But…”

Lisa relaxes, leaning back. “That’s fine. Even if you won't initiate things…” Lisa hums, and goes quiet. This makes Sayo look up curiously.

“Lisa-san?” She asks.

“Hm? Oh, it’s nothing, nevermind!” Lisa giggles, she reaches forward and tugs on Sayo’s sleeve. “C’mon, let’s get you to Rinko and Ako so you can apologise. And then maybe you guys can finally play together~.”

Sayo lets herself get pulled over to Rinko and Ako.

Lisa pushes her in front of the pair who turn to them, startled at the interruption. 

Sayo coughs into her fist, her cheeks reddening. “I apologise for how I acted when we were on the call…” she says meekly.

Ako and Rinko look at each other and grin, Ako jumping forward to engulf Sayo in a bone crushing hug. Rinko follows after her and hugs her gently.

“It’s no problem!” Ako exclaims, squeezing her, making Sayo gasp out for air. “A-Ako-san… I can’t breathe.” she wheezes.

“Oh! Oops! Sorry!” Ako laughs nervously, letting go on Sayo.

“It’s alright.” Sayo straightens her outfit and looks away nervously. “If you two are free… Could we play NFO? It seems each time we try, there’s something stopping us.”

Ako grins widely and jumps up and down excitedly. “Yeah! You better not hold back on that promise! We’ve avoided playing too long for you!” She points forward jokingly crossly. “No spontaneous dates!”

Sayo turns red and crosses her arms. “It was an- I don’t even know why I try. And yes, I promise. I will devote my time to getting that bow.”

Rinko giggles. “It… might take a while… Ako-chan and I went around the dungeon… and had to restart a lot of times…”

Sayo shakes her head, and can feel the tips of her mouth twitching upward. “It is fine. I have a lot of time.”

The girls hear the door open. Yukina walks back into the room, expression as serious as ever. The band turns to look at their leader, and immediately notice the milky foam at the corner of her lip. _Ah, Of course._ Sayo nods her head idly. _She went to drink the limited edition coffee._

Ako and Lisa burst into boisterous laughter. Ako falls to the floor, rolling back and forth while slapping the floor. Rinko looks down at Ako, definitely concerned over her girlfriend’s health. Sayo is too.

Sayo watches Lisa walk up to Yukina and say something. Yukina’s face turns red and she wipes at the corner of her mouth, huffing.

“Our break is over.” Yukina announces hastily, and Ako immediately stops laughing and gets up to sit behind her drums, she taps the drums, a powerful rhythm follows.

Rinko stands behind her piano, playing a simple tune to warm up her fingers, following the brief rhythm. The melody becomes much more complicated, running up the scale and slamming down to a lower note bringing goosebumps to Sayo’s arms.

Yukina stands in the middle, adjusting her mic and testing it. She stands upright and her embarrassment it seems, is long forgotten, when she stands at the front of the band.

Lisa walks over to the right of Yukina, slinging her bass over to rest on her shoulders. Like Rinko, she plays along with a short bassline, following the rhythm of the drums. She slaps her bass, bringing a groovy beat to the tune.

Sayo stands, straightening her posture and adjusting her grip on her guitar. She plays a few notes, and bends the final note, pressing the pedal for a distorted sound and strums the chord root signalling the end of their tune.

She watches Yukina, awaiting her command.

“We’ll play Ringing Bloom.” 

The piano begins and Sayo loses herself in the music.

Sayo steps outside of CiRCLE, gripping her guitar bag strap tightly, looking up at the clear weather. She squints under the blinding light of the sun.

“Onee-chaaaa~n~”

The teal haired girl looks at the direction of the voice to see her sister waving and running toward her direction. “Hina?” Sayo calls out, and walks toward her running sister.

Hina jumps at Sayo and hugs the taller girl. “I came to pick you up!” she exclaims happily.

Sayo looks down, the sight of the girl suddenly reminding her of the fight they had. “...I see.” She answers, unsure of what else to say.

Hina looks up at her from their hug, eyes sparkling and grin widening. “It’s okay!”

Sayo’s eyebrow raises at that. “About what?” she asks.

Hina pulls away, humming. She brings her hand to her chin. “You have that _so_ not zappin’ look on your face all the time! I used to think it was because you hated me, but it was actually because you were guilty and wanted to apologise. So I forgive you! Our fight is history!”

Sayo smiles gently, “Thank you, then.”

Hina grins and pulls her toward her car. “I have so much to talk about! I met Tsugu-chin earlier and…”

“Please go easy on me…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello did you miss me :)  
> lol jk...  
> ...unless?
> 
> school has started and i've once again neglected my history homework. it's not that i dont want to do it... well i mean- i don't- but- ahem. it doesn't help that i have to make a presentation. I'm especially lazy when it comes to presentations. i would prefer to make an essay than make a presentation :'(  
> anyway about the chapter.
> 
> i feel bad for putting tsugumi through this angst, but idk im a sucker for angst. i promise- the angst with tsugu is over now! and also chapter count is confirmed so that's EPIC.  
> (now time to make sayo feel the angst >:)) ...jokes. maybe. figuring out where to go after was actually really hard. i had to rewrite the part after tsugumi's confession multiple times so- uh- yeah. im not sure if this is the best way to go about things, but it's what i thought of at the time so i guess i'll just keep it that way lmaoo.
> 
> also the comments slapped my hearts butt. (weird metaphor, but im gonna keep it, it's the first thing i thought of in my sleep-deprived state) i love them. thank you ;;
> 
> Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram:  
> @Alienyanya


	6. feigning ignorance until the most important moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sometimes you forget the most important things whenever you're having the time of your life. it's fine! really... but the consequences of that kind of thing are rather severe, isn't it?
> 
> sayo does this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why do i kind of like my summary and title this time. that's a first.

“Soooo...”

Tsugumi looks up at the grinning face in front of her. She smiles back and places the coffee cups down. “Yes, Hina-senpai?” she asks hesitantly, looking around briefly in case there’s a customer that needs her help.

Hina leans back and wraps her arm around Aya’s shoulders. “You and my sis! When are you gonna ask her out? I’ve been trying to get her to ask you out, but she’s such a gay disaster!”

Ran, who is on the other side of Hina, raises her eyebrows. “Yeah…” She mumbles. “When _are_ you going to ask her out?” She turns to the barista with curious eyes. Moca pays no heed to the conversation and takes a large bite from her cake.

Tsugumi laughs nervously at the eyes on her. “I thought we were here to catch up?” She pulls the tray closer to her chest. “My relationship status isn’t really that interesting.”

“That’s nonsense!” Eve pipes in, bringing her hands to her chest in a determined manner. “It is always a delight to learn about you, Tsugumi-san!” Tsugumi turns pink and laughs again, flattered.

“Besides, I have been quite curious about your relationship with Sayo-san! Last time I heard about this, you two had broken up because of worries about the future!” Eve frowns, gesturing wildly.

Tsugumi sighs amusedly, “Well, there isn’t that much to know.” She says, “Roselia went on hiatus, and because of that, Sayo-chan decided to reach out to me! I’m grateful for the opportunity because I’ve missed her, but… we haven’t really spoken about what we are to each other.”

Eve hums confusedly, “There was no opportunity?” she asks.

No. There were plenty of opportunities that Tsugumi didn’t take.

Sayo’s first confession. When Tsugumi slept with Sayo in the same bed. Their date. That one tender moment on the rooftop… gosh why didn’t Sayo take the hint!

Well, Tsugumi was still scared, even with the assurances. If their relationship changes… they could drift apart.

...Even if that is an unlikely possibility, considering Sayo has been openly in love with her for 2 years straight. Tsugumi giggles internally at the thought.

“Mm. I guess I’m just happy with how we are now.” Tsugumi opts for that in the end, smiling gently at the thought of the woman she loves. She pulls her tray tighter toward her chest.

“I mean, I _do_ want to date her, it’s just complicated right now…” Tsugumi says, interrupting Hina who was about to talk.

“How?” Hina asks, tilting her head in confusion. “You date her, she dates you and it’d be a happy ending!” She exclaims.

“I’m still a little worried…” Tsugumi admits, nervously chuckling, “I read that long distance relationships might bring more stress and stuff…”

“You’re just making excuses!” Hina exclaims standing up suddenly, slamming her hands on the table passionately and huffing.

Tsugumi takes a step back in surprise at the sudden movement. “H-Hina-senpai! Please don’t disturb the customers like that!” She whispers, frantically looking at the customers that have turned their heads at the noise Hina was making.

“Ahahaha, sorry! I just want you two to date again!” The teal haired girl says, falling down onto her chair with a _pat_ , grinning. “And that starts with you, Tsugu-chan, with asking her out!”

Tsugumi returns a smile, albeit much more nervous than the other girl. “I mean- it’s- it’s not, well, _guaranteed_ that we’ll date again. She could still say no.” She sighs, looking down.

Hina laughs, “Tsugu-chan, you and my sis are basically _soulmates_ !” She says, “Of _course_ you’ll date again! And there’s literally _no way_ she’d say no! Ahaha, yeah, no, that’s impossible.”

Tsugumi raises her brows at the statement. Soulmates... huh? It seemed that they were more of star-crossed lovers than anything, if she were really being honest.

“Soul… mates…?” Eve asks, looking at Hina inquisitively. “I’m not sure I’m familiar with that term?” She says, crossing her arms and tapping at her chin.

Hina places her hands on the table, drumming her fingers on the edges. “You know… mmm… _Sielunkumppani_ ! That _boppin’_ feeling ya get when you meet Maya-chan!”

Eve makes the universal sign of ‘I got it!’ “I see!” She exclaims giddily, “Then it must be true! After all, you two have found your way to each other again, haven’t you?”

Tsugumi stares at Hina. Of course Hina knows how to speak Finnish. Tsugumi smiles, “Maybe that’s true. But I have no idea how to go about it.”

“Ehh?” Hina whines, “You’ve done it before, why can’t you do it again?”

“I-It’s not as easy for me as it is for you, Hina. You never feel embarrassed over anything!” Tsugumi exclaims, her cheeks heating up. Aya laughs nervously, sharing a look of understanding with the brunette.

Tsugumi sighs, gripping the tray tighter “It’s better that I don’t do it the same as last time anyway…”

_“I like you Sayo-san.” She blurted. Sayo’s head snapped up in surprise, cheeks flaring. “Uh…”_

Tsugumi shakes her head at the memory. It was actually such an embarrassing confession! At least when Sayo asked her out, she had looked so adorable! Her cheeks flushed, eyes averted, lips quirking up slightly - that’s one of Tsugumi’s most favourite faces of Sayo!

“Hahaha! Onee-chan told me about that! I didn’t know you could act like that, Tsugu-chan!” Hina exclaims, cackling behind her hand.

“What, what?” Moca finally inputs in the conversation, smiling mischievously. “Tsugu never told us about any _embarrassing_ confessions…” Ran raises her brows, clearly invested in the topic, even if she’d never admit it.

“Mou, please don’t tease me like that, Hina-senpai… And don’t encourage her, Moca-chan!” Tsugumi sighs, feeling tired from her interaction with Hina. Tsugumi looks over at the counter and sees her staff talking to each other, evidently flustered by an order they couldn’t decipher.

Tsugumi hums, concerned. “Aahh.. I’ll be back. Just tell me if you need anything!” Her friends nod their heads.

“And Hina-senpai, don’t you dare tell Moca-chan about what happened!” She finally walks away. Behind her, she can hear Hina and Moca bursting into loud laughter as she’s walking away. Her cheeks heat up.

Tsugumi closes the door behind her, sighing. It’s a bit of a shame that she can’t talk to her friends any longer, but she can’t really stop working.

One of her staff walks past, smiling kindly. “Tsugu, what are you doing in here?”

“Oh! Lotte-san!” Tsugumi says, and she pats her cheeks, trying to calm the blush on them. “Sorry, I’ll- I- um… I work here?” She just realises what Lotte says.

Lotte giggles, eyes crinkling behind her glasses. “Not that. You’ve been working really hard lately. You deserve to have a break.”

Another girl pops in behind her, sporting a small, restrained smile. “Go on ahead, Tsugumi.” She says, “You can go hang out with your friends.” 

“Sucy-san…” Tsugumi says, and she shakes her head. “Please don’t do anything suspicious to the coffee while I’m here.”

Lotte giggles, looking over at Sucy and the latter grumbles, commenting something about only doing that when her “guinea pig” is around.

Tsugumi giggles and bows down. “Thank you, Lotte-san, Sucy-san.”

She takes off her apron and folds it. “I’ll be back in maybe an hour.” Tsugumi promises. She feels a bit guilty, but the encouragement from her staff makes her confident.

Lotte smiles. “Have fun, okay?”

Tsugumi nods her head and then smiles widely.

“Okay!”

“You know, Tsugu-chan…” Hina mutters, squinting at the barista. 

Tsugumi stops talking to Ran to look at the girl. All of the conversations go quiet to hear Hina talk. “You’re a waitress right?”

“...I guess that’s true?” Tsugumi says, tilting her head. She’s never really thought about her positioning as a staff member in a cafe.

“Hina-chan…” Aya says, frowning. Hina cackles and Tsugumi knows that she’s going to say something weird again. In one motion, Hina lunges across the table, face closer to Tsugumi and eyes twinkling.

“You should work at grillbys!” She exclaims.

Moca snorts. Ran looks up at Hina, her eyebrows creasing and eyes narrowing to the teal haired girl, lips pursing in disapproval and mild amusement.

“Grill… bys…?” Tsugumi tilts her head. It’s a lot more tame compared to Hina’s other comments. But she can’t help but think that name sounds so familiar.

Tsugumi hums for a moment and then an idea clicks.

“Is that a reference to a video game?”

Moca grins. “Oooh! The tsugurific Tsugu strikes again! And she hasn’t even played the game before either.”

Tsugumi laughs nervously at the reaction. Hina snickers behind her fingers. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist.”

Aya sighs, resting her cheek against her hand. “Mm. She’s been wanting to say that since a week ago when we were playing Undertale. She’s been so obsessed with that [one Sans ASMR](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50_t6nSHaLw).”

Ran huffs and crosses her arms, “Yeah I know which one you’re talking about. He monologues and then makes these weird slurping noises.” Her eyes narrow and Tsugumi can feel the looming aura around her.

Moca cackles. She cuts through Ran’s and Aya’s exchange “Ah… That’s good. A legendary video~!” She says. She hums and stares at Aya, making the pink haired idol unnerved at the intense stare.

Moca’s eyebrows raise and her grin widens. “Hmmm~ still~ _You_ were playing it~? You don’t seem like the gaming type, Aya-saan~.”

Aya smiles nervously, “I’m not, but Hina-chan told me I should play it.”

Moca leans back, “Ah, of course. Did she tell you about the gaming system and the… _exp_?” She asks, grinning mischievously. Tsugumi can see Hina’s eyes sparkle at that.

Hina bursts into laughter. Beside her, Aya begins to wail, “I didn’t know we weren’t supposed to kill anyone! I thought it was a normal game!” She complains.

Ran smiles amusedly. “Honestly, me neither. Moca didn’t tell me anything except that it’s fun.”

Aya frowns. “And I thought I wouldn’t be tricked by Hina-chan ever again ever since that time she made me play that horrible visual novel game. Doki doki… something…”

This is where Tsugumi frowns too. Moca made her play that game too. She could barely count the amount of times she had been scared by the jumpscares and comments that girl made. Her name started with… an M, if she recalled correctly.

Moca grins, “Aah~ So I see~ I got Tsugu into that too~ That was such a fun experience, wasn’t it?” She says, and Tsugumi shivers.

“I don’t think I want to play that game ever again…” Tsugumi says, laughing nervously, which only prompts Hina and Moca to laugh again.

“Hm?” Tsugumi feels a vibration in her pocket. She pulls her phone out to see Sayo calling her. Eve looks at her curiously.

“What’s wrong, Tsugumi-san?” Eve asks, tilting her head.

“Ah, Sayo-chan is calling me, is all. I’ll be back, I’ll just take this call.” Tsugumi responds. She stands up to go outside and answers the call. 

“ _Tsugumi?_ ” The teal haired girl’s voice comes through the receiver.

“Sayo-chan!” Tsugumi exclaims. “What’s up?” She asks.

“ _Ah… I’m at kyudo practice. I’m taking a break right now…_ ” Sayo replies, and Tsugumi nods her head, noting that Sayo did sound tired.

“Oh! Really? You didn’t get to do kyudo while on tour, right? How is it going?” Tsugumi smiles softly. Hearing Sayo’s voice always makes her chest feel warm, and especially now that she’s admitted her feelings to herself.

“ _Not that well, to be completely honest. It seems due to my time away from kyudo, my aim has been severely ruined._ ” Sayo says, and she sighs in the receiver.

“Haha… It’s okay, Sayo-chan! I’m sure you’ll get better… eventually.”

“ _Are you doubting me?_ ” Sayo asks, partly amused and partly offended.

Tsugumi lets out a giggle, “Nooooo, I’m not.” She declines, but her laughter tells Sayo otherwise.

“ _Hahh… To think the day that you, Tsugumi would doubt me has come. I suppose I have no choice than to prove you wrong._ ” Sayo answers, though shortly after that sentence, she lets out a soft laugh.

Tsugumi’s eyes widen at the sound of Sayo’s laughter. Sayo has been a lot more… relaxed and loosened recently. Where years back, she would never play along with a joke and where laughter was rare - she seems content to allow herself to enjoy the moment.

That just… makes Tsugumi feel so so _so_ happy. That Sayo has grown so much to the point that she can open up to the people that she talks to.

“Ah! Hina-senpai is here at the cafe. Did you want to say hi?” Tsugumi asks, cutting through the momentary silence.

“ _No, that is quite alright._ ” Tsugumi could picture Sayo shaking her head, a soft smile on her face. “ _She told me she was bringing Wakamiya-san with her. You wanted to meet her, right?_ ” Sayo asks.

Tsugumi’s chest warms. Sayo remembered that!

“Yes! I’m very happy I got to see her again!” Tsugumi exclaims, giggling.

“ _...I see._ ” Sayo says, after a short pause. She stutters a little before coughing. “ _I suppose I should treat Hina nicer the next time I see her._ ” She says.

“You should treat her nicer no matter what, Sayo-chan.”

 _“...Right, sorry._ ”

The two burst into soft giggles.

“The others are probably worried about where I’ve been.” Tsugumi says, looking through the window to see Aya and Eve looking at her curiously.

“ _Of course. I’m sorry for taking up your time, Tsugumi._ ” Sayo says and Tsugumi shakes her head.

“Oh! Don’t apologise. I will always make time to talk to you, Sayo-chan!” Tsugumi says giddily. Sayo lets out another soft laugh and another wave of euphoria rushes over Tsugumi.

“ _Well then… I’ll see you later, Tsugumi._ ” Sayo’s voice softens at that and Tsugumi smiles.

“Bye, Sayo-chan!” 

* * *

“We’ve finally beaten the boss for the seventh time! ...and I _still_ didn’t get the loot I wanted.”

Sayo sighs, her head falling down briefly in disappointment. The boss had been tougher than she had expected and what was supposed to be only an hour of grinding transformed to 2 hours until they were able to fully understand the boss patterns.

“It’s okay, Ako-san.” Sayo says in her microphone. She raises her hands to her headphones and takes it off and rubs at her sore ears. “We can do it again, I have a lot of time.”

“Ah, really!? We should be able to kill it a bunch of times then! Then maybe we’ll finally get it!” Ako exclaims and Sayo peeks at her camera, seeing the younger girl bop up and down excitedly.

“Fufu. Expect it to be long, considering the item you seek is a legendary rarity item.” Sayo tells, moving her character toward the blacksmith.

“Did you get… your item… Sayo-san…?” Rinko asks softly. Sayo sees Rinko’s avatar waiting by the blacksmith area.

Sayo clicked on the rough looking dwarf by the area. “Yes.” She answers. “You two can wait by the dungeon and fight the lower tier monsters, I need to build my bow.”

“Okay!” Ako says and she spots at the corner of her screen, Ako’s avatar using her surreal but useful spell of summoning skeletons to carry her in the direction at a faster rate than her character to run past them.

“Ako-chan… please wait for me…” Rinko’s soft voice explains, and the avatar waiting by the blacksmith is running frantically in the same direction that Ako went in. 

Sayo holds back a small laugh from their antics. Sayo clicks around her inventory, picking out the materials she needs to build the bow, and then materials needed to build a higher tier, and then the items for a better cosmetic.

Sayo hears the sound of the door creaking and she sighs. It’s been about the tenth time Hina has barged into her room, one of them costing her the dungeon- and they were so close to beating that hard part of the boss!

“Hina…” Sayo starts, ripping her headphones off and then turning to face the girl at the door. “How many times must I tell you to-” She pauses when she finally looks up.

Before her is not her eccentric sister. It’s Tsugumi, looking at her with an inquisitive- and kind of mad, expression.

“T-T-T-Tsugumi!” Sayo jumps in her chair, and drops her headset on her keyboard, landing with a loud _tac!_ Sayo can faintly hear Ako shouting “Sayo-san! Are you okay?”

Tsugumi crosses her arms, and sighs in the same way she’d do it when Sayo neglected herself, or got mad at Hina for no apparent reason-

“Sayo-san.” Tsugumi starts and walks closer, making Sayo move back herself. She only uses that tone and honorific when she’s mad, Sayo briefly recalls.

“Hello…” Sayo says meekly, looking down, already feeling guilty for something she doesn’t even know what for exactly. “Am… Am I in trouble?” She couldn’t but ask.

Sayo’s heart falls down and Tsugumi sighs again, uncrossing her arms to rest on her hips. “Hina-senpai called me.” She answers and Sayo nods her head.

“And she told me that you’ve been playing NFO without stopping. You’re not neglecting yourself are you?” Tsugumi asks, moving forward. Cackling can be heard from her headphones, and Sayo frowns.

“I assure you, Tsugumi, that I have been eating my meals and getting proper sleep.” Sayo says straightening her back and attempting to look confident.

As if on cue her stomach growls.

Sayo’s cheeks flare in embarrassment and Tsugumi is stifling her laughter. “So,” Tsugumi starts, her angry mood replaced with amusement. “You were saying?”

Sayo sighs. “I’m sorry.” She bows her head down. Tsugumi stares down at Sayo for a moment and then nods her head.

“It’s okay. Your parents are out now, right?” Tsugumi asks, moving closer and bending down to eye level. “Hina-senpai is going out right now, so it’s just going to be us two at home.”

Sayo looks up confusedly. “Ah… Yes, I suppose that is the case.” She answers.

Tsugumi nods her head and smiles mysteriously. “Okay, then.” She responds and walks out, leaving Sayo staring out after her.

“I’ll be back Ako-san, Rinko-san.” Sayo says in the microphone, stands up and goes after Tsugumi.

When Sayo walks down the stairs, she finds Tsugumi going through the cupboard. “Tsugumi?” Sayo calls.

Tsugumi pulls out the golden curry sauce mix. “Ah, Sayo-chan!” She smiles widely and walks toward the bench with the uncut vegetables. “You can keep playing if you’d like to.”

Sayo stands next to Tsugumi. “No, it’s okay. I’ll stay here.” she answers. “I would make a bad host if I had left you alone.”

Tsugumi nods her head, “Okay then! But sorry in advance, because watching me cook is probably not as fun as playing NFO with Ako-chan and Rinko-chan.”

Sayo shakes her head, “That’s not true. Any time spent with you, Tsugumi, is always entertaining.” Sayo smiles at the sight of the blush on Tsugumi’s cheeks.

Tsugumi giggles and murmurs bashfully, “Ehehe… Thank you.”

Sayo sits behind the counter, just in front of Tsugumi’s unprepared food and the recently pulled out pot.

Sayo watches as Tsugumi, with practised ease, works on the ingredients, cutting off the fat from the meat and then slicing them into even, bite sized pieces.

She watches Tsugumi turn on the stove and add oil to the pan. It’s when Tsugumi begins to skin the potatoes that Sayo finally opens her mouth.

“Is there any way that I could help?” She asks, but clamps her mouth shut when she realises she has one to none cooking skill other than the times Tsugumi taught her to bake. Does baking count as cooking? Probably. Sayo understands that this is a different process, though.

Tsugumi looks up from her work to stare at Sayo in surprise. She smiles. “If you’d like to help, then maybe with the preparation of the vegetables?” She says, though Sayo suspects the second part was mostly to herself.

Sayo nods her head anyway. “I’m fine with any role.” She says.

“Ah… Then, can you cut the carrots for me? Into thin slices- this way?” Tsugumi says, and holds a carrot, gesturing in the way that she wants Sayo to chop for her.

Sayo’s nose crinkles. Carrots? It’s still puzzling how _anyone_ could find those appealing. “If we could… I’d like to leave the carrots out of this dish…”

Tsugumi giggles, bringing her hand to her mouth. “I knew you’d say something like that. But carrots are an important part of curry! It’d be pretty sad without them.”

“Still…” Sayo pouts.

“I-It’s fine if you don’t eat them!” Tsugumi insists, cheeks reddening at the sight of _Sayo_ pouting. “I can eat them, if you’d like.”

Sayo sighs, Tsugumi was most likely not going to not put in carrots. “...Okay then.”

Tsugumi’s smile widens. She leans over the counter to give Sayo a small kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for being so understanding.” She says and grins.

Sayo’s cheeks flush, and she slowly brings her hand to the area Tsugumi had just pecked.

“Tsugumi… What…?”

Tsugumi’s cheeks turn red too, and she looks at Sayo with bashful, adorable doll eyes. “Was that not okay?”

Sayo shakes her head. “No. It’s fine. I shall work on the carrots, if you insist. Unfortunately, it won’t make it any less revolting.” She laments.

Tsugumi giggles again at Sayo’s theatrics. “Don’t be so dramatic.” She says, between suppressed laughter. “I’m sure Sayo, the great guitarist of Roselia can handle something as simple as cutting carrots without letting her _personal affairs_ get in the way.”

Sayo frowns, and she can feel her face heating again. “Please don’t tease me, Tsugumi.” She says, averting her eyes nervously.

This time, Tsugumi doesn’t hold back her laughter. She lets the melody ring out, the sound making Sayo forget any sort of embarrassment beforehand.

“Sorry!” Tsugumi finally says giddily, and then sets down the potato, cutting it into small pieces easily.

Sayo huffs and begins cutting the carrots, trying not to let her distaste for the vegetable get to her head.

After preparing all of the vegetables, Tsugumi asks her to sit down and let her cook the rest of the food. Sayo watches Tsugumi easily cook the rice and curry and eventually prepare a delicious meal for Sayo.

When the food is ready, Sayo can feel the rumble of her stomach resonate throughout her body. ...Though that description might be a bit too dramatic.

Tsugumi places two plates of curry on the table, and gestures to Sayo to sit down. Sayo follows and sits down, Tsugumi sitting down after her.

“T-Thanks for the food.” Sayo says hesitantly, placing her hands together briefly. Tsugumi smiles wider and rests her head on her hand.

Sayo picks up her chopsticks and takes a bite. Her eyes widen, feeling a sense of euphoria wash over her. “Oh!” Sayo gasps. It tastes really nice - even if there is that abomination vegetable in this dish.

Tsugumi giggles, and Sayo turns her head to the noise. “Tastes good, doesn’t it?” She says.

Sayo’s cheeks burn and she nods her head. Instinctively, she piles the carrots in the corner of her plate. Tsugumi giggles at that and moves her plate closer to put the carrots on her spoon.

Sayo watches Tsugumi put the entire pile in her mouth in one bite. Naturally, her disgust shows on her face.

Tsugumi covers her mouth and makes an ungodly noise akin to a gorilla attempting ballet. 

Sayo’s brows crease and her mouth widens slightly in alarm, and Tsugumi begins to choke.

“Tsugumi!” Sayo exclaims, standing up. “What- are you okay!?” She rushes to her side to lightly pat her back.

Tsugumi swallows and then coughs. Sayo realises a second too late that strange noise was some sort of attempt at a laugh. 

Tsugumi pulls her hand up, an awkward smile on her face, “Ah- I’m sorry I choked.”

“It’s okay.” Sayo mumbles, but still stares at Tsugumi with concern. “You choked because of the carrots.” She says, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

Tsugumi giggles, “Don’t you dare-”

“Carrots are evil.” Sayo states, huffing, and the statement only gets Tsugumi to laugh even harder.

“Right, right…” Tsugumi says, poking Sayo’s side. “Just because I choked _once_ on them…”

Sayo huffs and then goes back to her seat to polish off her food.

It’s not long until they’ve both finished eating.

_Creeeeeeek…_ The sound of the car door opening alarms Sayo from her thoughts. She turns her head to see Tsugumi standing outside, startled by Sayo’s reaction.

Tsugumi giggles and then sits down in the passenger seat. “What’s up with that?” She laughs and Sayo relaxes into her seat, with a resigned sigh.

“I apologise.” She says, shaking her head, “I had gotten lost in my thoughts.”

Tsugumi smiles, “It’s okay!” She answers. The brunette reaches forward to place a hand on her shoulder. “Though it’s a little surprising, but it’s _you_.” 

Sayo frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She starts the car and rolls the steering wheel to get out of the parking spot. She’s very aware of the hand rubbing at her shoulder.

Tsugumi lets go to let Sayo focus on the road. “Mmm.” She hums, looking forward, “You’re usually a lot more focused, I guess…?”

Sayo raises her eyebrows and looks briefly at the younger girl. “I suppose. Many people have told me that before.”

“I’m glad you’re comfortable enough to be different than your usual image then!” Tsugumi says suddenly and Sayo almost laughs at how random it is.

“Yes. It’s safe to say you make me feel at ease.” Sayo admits, and stops at the red light. There’s a strange silence in the car that disturbs Sayo.

“I apologise, was that too-” Sayo turns to look at Tsugumi and then pauses,

She pauses, because Tsugumi’s face is flushed, a shy smile on her face. It makes Sayo speechless and she coughs, looking forward.

“Mm.” Tsugumi hums, just to break the silence, but her steaming face only makes the tension thicker.

Sayo can feel her throat drying and it feels as if she had said something wrong. There’s this unexplainable need to fix the conversation and _just say something_ -

Alas, Sayo is socially inept.

So that’s why she’s eternally grateful for Ako’s presence when she calls Sayo in the middle of this stretching silence.

“Ah, I’ll get it.” Tsugumi mumbles, reaching into Sayo’s purse to get the phone.

“ _Sayo-san!”_ The person on the receiver yells. It’s not directly next to her ear but Sayo can feel herself wincing anyway at the girl's inability to control her volume.

“Ako-san? What’s wrong?” Sayo asks, and pushes on the pedal. She makes a right turn.

 _“Can you please pick me up?”_ Ako asks.

“Why? Wouldn’t you usually ask Lisa-san or Rinko-san?” Sayo asks, but she’s already changing her route to Haneoka. Tsugumi notices this and smiles knowingly at her.

“ _Lisa-nee isn’t picking up her phones! Maybe she’s with Yukina-san?”_ Ako exclaims. “ _And Rin-rin doesn’t have a car!_ ”

Sayo nods her head. “Oh.” She answers. “I didn’t know that.”

“ _Mhm! And I didn’t even_ **_think_ ** _about calling Yukina-san!”_ Ako exclaims proudly. Sayo feels the tips of her mouth twitch up at that and Tsugumi looks up curiously.

“Good.” Sayo says. “Okay. I’m coming.”

“Oh yeah, what did Ako-chan mean by that?”

Sayo turns away from the gates of the school. She sees Tsugumi staring at her inquisitively.

“What did Ako-san mean about what?” Sayo asks, because she doesn’t understand the context between Tsugumi’s question.

The brunette hums, “Well, before, when you were on that call, that is - she said she didn’t even think about calling Yukina-senpai. What does she mean by that?”

The reminder of that brings a smile to Sayo.

“Yukina-san can’t drive, is all.” Sayo answers simply.

“Really? That’s surprising! She didn’t take lessons?” Tsugumi asks, for the sake of continuing the conversation.

Sayo shakes her head. “She took lessons. She ended up crashing all 4 of the cars. It’s an unspoken rule between Roselia to make sure Yukina-san will never touch a steering wheel ever again.”

Tsugumi giggles at that. “Really? Did you have to pay for the insurance?”

Sayo sighs, “Yes, unfortunately. She’s lucky that she tried driving after Future World Fes. I’m not sure we would have enough money otherwise.”

“Oh yeah! Sometimes I forget that you’re a multi millionaire.” Tsugumi says, laughing, “You kind of dress bland.”

Sayo raises a brow, “How rude.”

Tsugumi giggles uncontrollably. “Sorry! But you’d think after being friends with Lisa-senpai, you would have gotten tips on how to dress. You dress the same as when we were in high school!”

Sayo huffs, and crosses her arms, blushing. “Is my style really _that_ bad…?” She asks.

Tsugumi pinches her side playfully. “Kinda.”

“Thank you for your honesty. I’ll keep your... criticism in mind.”

Tsugumi smiles widely and sighs fondly. “Only _you_.”

“Only me?”

“Only _you_ would thank me.” Tsugumi finishes off her previous sentence, giggling once again. “It’s cute.”

Cute isn’t the first word that Sayo would use to describe herself - in fact, probably the last word. Tsugumi used to call her cute all the time in high school and hearing it again makes her feel so… 

Cute.

Before Sayo can respond properly Ako comes in with a shout.

“TSUGU-CHIIIIN!!!”

Sayo doesn’t know whether to love or to hate Ako’s interruptions anymore.

The brunette turns her body in the direction of the tall chuunibyou. She smiles broadly when she sees the younger girl scurrying over in her direction.

The purple haired girl extends her arms and lifts Tsugumi high in the air, exclaiming happily. Tsugumi giggles and rests her hands on Akos shoulders.

“It’s been so long!” Ako exclaims, placing the girl down gently.

Tsugumi brings her hand on her mouth, laughing, “You saw me a few weeks ago at Hazawa Coffee.”

Ako pouts, and then links their arms together. “Yeah, but that was forever ago!”

“I _guess_ you could say that…” Tsugumi hums.

Ako stares at her contemplatively. And then she gasps, scandalised. “Oh no. Did I interrupt your date?” She asks, frowning guiltily.

Sayo face palms, her face beet red. “No.” She answers. “You did not.” Tsugumi laughs nervously, her cheeks pink.

Sayo points between Tsugumi and herself. “We’re meeting up with friends.” She states.

Ako perks up and then enters Sayo’s car. “Oh can I come?” She asks, when they’re in the car.

“No, you need to do your work.”

“Stingy…”

“Ahaha…”

“Don’t play for the rest of the day, Ako-san. Make sure to make room for studying too.” Sayo says, and Ako pulls her tongue out. Sayo sighs, but waits until Ako enters her house before leaving.

Tsugumi giggles at the interactions. “You act like that, but you’re really kind, Sayo-chan.”

Sayo looks away bashfully. “I don’t know how you see me talk to Ako-san like that and then come to that assumption.” She mumbles.

Tsugumi only laughs in response.

“And of course, the enviable couple comes late!”

Tsugumi and Sayo open the doors of the restaurant to meet the racket that is Eve, Himari, Tomoe and Moca.

“Enviable…?” Sayo says, furrowing her brows. “In the first place, we aren’t even dating.” She says in a matter-of-factly way, taking off her jacket and hanging it on the chair she’s going to sit on.

Tsugumi nods her head. “That’s right, we aren’t! Besides, there’s no one _more_ enviable than the fiancés sitting before us! Can I see your rings?”

Himari gushes, basically thrusting her and a red-faced Tomoe’s hands out for all to see the matching diamond ring on their hands.

“Congratulations on your engagement, Tomoe-san.” Sayo tells Tomoe, smiling at the rings. “I heard about your proposal. It sounded rather romantic.”

“Ahaha… Thanks, Sayo-san!” Tomoe thanks her, grinning happily.

Eve gasps out loud, enamoured by the rings. “How very bushido!” She exclaims, she seems to still have the unnecessary habit of saying bushido. “It’s quite beautiful!”

Tomoe cringes, “It was kinda expensive too…” She whispers.

Moca grins, “About 2 million yen riiiight~?”

“Yikes…”

Moca leans back, “Well, since Moca-chan is a genius~ She could get about four of those~~~”

Tomoe pipes up, “Really? Where do you get that money from?”

“I sell things in the black market…” Moca says eerily, a carefree smile on her face.

“I _knew_ it babe! You owe me 5000 yen!”

“ _Babe_ , you _know_ she’s just joking!” 

Sayo blanches, a little concerned that Himari partook in a bet that she will most definitely win.

Tsugumi stands up, the chair making a squeaking sound in her wake. The group watches her, startled at the sudden movement.

Tsugumi puffs her cheeks, “Why didn’t you tell me you and Moca-chan were manga artists!!” She asks, staring at Moca. Moca’s eyes widen, that rare look of shock obvious on her face.

“Uh oh…” Moca mumbles, “Hii-chan, I think our jig is up~.”

“What!?” Himari exclaims, looking worriedly between Moca and Tsugumi. “But it’s so much more exciting to hide it!”

Tomoe leans in, “Wait what? Moca? You mean she doesn’t actually go to the black market?”

“Do you guys really think that low of your friend…?” Sayo mumbles, a little confused by the dynamic of their friendship group. Would they die for each other, or would they kill each other?

“Now, now~ This isn’t the right place to talk about it~” Moca goes back to her carefree nature, leaning back. As if summoned, the waitresses come and place their food on the table.

The sight of the food makes everyone hungry.

“Dig up, and we can go over to my place and we’ll tell you eeehhh- verything~”

She didn’t even need to tell them, they were already going through the food.

“Welcome to my humble abode~”

Sayo’s mouth drops. It’s huge and _really_ extravagant for someone as lazy as Moca.

“ _I used to think she robbed banks or something… We used to play phantom thieves all the time ehehe…_ ” Tsugumi admitted once, but Sayo understands now why Tsugumi used to think that.

They enter and everyone gasps at the interior. Eve, in particular, rushes around the house, excited at the traditional japanese decorations that Ran had definitely had a hand in putting in this house.

Sayo was intrigued by the bouquet by the kitchen door, some blue roses and camellias. 

“Ah!” Tsugumi exclaims. Sayo turns around and nods her head at her ex-girlfriend as a greeting. Tsugumi smiles widely.

“Ran-chan actually arranged that. She’s actually quite a big fan of Roselia, even if she doesn’t really show it.” She explains, admiring the flowers.

Sayo nods her head, feeling a smile creep up her face. “Mm. That’s quite flattering, that she’d keep an arrangement inspired by Roselia in her home.”

Tsugumi giggles. “Well, Ran-chan doesn’t actually live here. According to Moca-chan, she stays over a lot, so I guess that’s true too?”

Sayo’s brows raise in contemplation. “I see…”

The brunette reaches down and holds Sayo’s hand to bring her inside the lounge room where everyone else was.

An hour or two was spent watching trashy rom-coms that Himari absolutely adores - Tomoe only barely tolerates them because her fiancé is so hopelessly enamoured with them.

The bell rings and Moca leaps up to open the door. It’s Ran, with the usual grouchy expression on her face.

“What’s wrong Raaaan~?” Sayo looks back and sees Moca hanging on Ran like a koala. Ran doesn’t make any movement to take her off- only continues like Moca isn’t even there. She didn’t even act like Moca was acting strangely.

“The teacher was being an asshole. Don’t worry about it.” Ran answers, sighing, and then placing the car keys in the ceramic bowl.

“Our friends are over~ Didn’t you want to ask Tsugu something~?”

Ran enters the lounge, and scans the room. 

Tsugumi was the first to respond. “Hi, Ran-chan!” She chirps. 

The black haired woman nods her head, smiling softly at the brunette. “I need to talk to you Tsugu -- but later.”

Tsugumi nods her head curiously. “Okay…”

Ran turns to Moca who finally loosens her grip. “I’m going to your spare room. I have an assignment. Why don’t you take the others to your room? Didn’t you say in our texts that you were going to show them around?”

“Ehhh? You’re not coming?”

Ran blushes, staggering at the persistent girl. “Whatever. I’ll stay for like a minute. But I really have to do my work.”

“Yaaaay!” Moca cheers. She gestures to the direction of the hallway. “C’mon guysss~ I’ll show you my manga room~”

The group stand and follow Moca in the hallways and then to a room.

“Here is Moca-chan’s working place~” Moca says, revealing a room with tables, manuscripts scattered everywhere with impressive drawings (courtesy of Himari) and… stick figures (definitely Moca’s drawings.)

“Hm…” Sayo hums, picking one of the papers up and examining the drawings. “Why doesn’t Mitake-san live with you?” she asks curiously.

“Because I want to focus on my studies.” Ran answers, leaning down and pulling the papers together in chronological order.

“Doesn’t stop you from staying over every night~” Moca teases, poking Ran’s red cheek.

“Shut it.”

Sayo sighs and hands the paper to Ran, who nods her head gratefully. She sees Ran look up at her, a little hostile.

It makes Sayo bristle, but she pulls away from the eye contact.

“Wait, so, everytime you weren’t at home you were…” Sayo hears Tomoe’s voice and turns to look at the idiot couple.

“At Moca’s place, that’s right!”

“Thank God… You spent so many days overnight, I used to get worried…”

“What?! I would never do that to you!” Himari exclaims with an aghast look..

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Tomoe laughs, relieved. She reaches down to pat Himari on the head. “You’re Uehara Himari, soon to be Udagawa, after all!” 

“Babe…!” Himari utters, starstruck.

Tsugumi pulls Sayo away from their probably comedic skit.

They spot Ran huffing and stomping away to the kitchen, Moca snickering behind her. Moca definitely started teasing her when they left.

Sayo and Tsugumi look at each other and shrug. When they arrive back in the lounge, Tsugumi points toward the couch so that Sayo could sit down on it.

“Wait here, I’ll help Ran-chan in the kitchen?” Tsugumi smiles kindly, and places her hand on Sayo’s shoulder briefly.

Sayo nods in response. She watches Tsugumi’s retreating figure before doing anything.

She pulls her phone out to see Lisa, Rinko and Ako spamming the group chat. Mostly Ako exclaiming how she “interrupted Sayo-san and Tsugu-chin’s date!”

Followed by Rinko telling her to calm down a little, and Lisa asking for more details and tagging Sayo numerous times.

Needless to say, Sayo ignores them.

The moment she puts her phone away, Tomoe comes to her. Sayo feels the sweat gather on her forehead at the younger woman's expression. Tomoe looks… almost mad?

The elder Udagawa sister sits on the couch, right next to Sayo and just stares quietly. Sayo can see the gears turning in her head, wondering how she should phrase her next words.

Tomoe breathes in, “Are you treatin’ her right?” She asks, her eyes narrowed.

“...Sorry?” Sayo asks, bewildered by the question.

“Y’know. You and Tsugu.” Tomoe says, waving her arms around to emphasise her point.

Of course...

Afterglow wouldn’t trust her after what happened two years ago and what had come out of it..

“We’re not dating.” Sayo states. She sighs and then sits up straight and crosses her arms apprehensively.

“That doesn’t matter.” Tomoe glances back at Himari, and she purses her lips. “...But why aren’t you dating?”

“...” Sayo doesn’t really have an answer for that.

Tomoe looks at her with pity. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret, please.”

Sayo breaks eye contact, keeping her eyes low. “What do you mean?”

The red haired woman shakes her head and raises her hand to scratch at her nape. “Well… don’t lead her on if you’re not going to pursue anything, and say something if you are.”

Right. Tomoe knows this is Roselia’s last day.

And just like that, her fantasy that she’d be with Tsugumi forever shatters. It collapses on the ground with a loud explosion, piercing her ears and stabbing her heart.

Tsugumi comes back, and Sayo. She. She doesn’t know anymore.

“There’s the first star!” Tsugumi points upward at the subtle shining star in the barren night sky.

“Wow… It’s truly amazing how you do that so fast.” Sayo whispers.

Tsugumi giggles bashfully, looking at Sayo with so much love in her eyes. Sayo’s heart drops at the sight of it.

It’s already been three months since Sayo has come to Japan on a hiatus with Roselia. The time she spent here was enjoyable, and... irreplaceable. 

She was able to affirm her love for Tsugumi, and witness its growth after meeting and bonding with the younger woman.

If she had reminded herself that this would happen, then she wouldn’t have chosen to talk to Tsugumi at all.

“...Sayo-chan? What’s wrong?”

Ah… When Tsugumi looks up at her with those innocent eyes… Sayo can’t help but feel extremely guilty. That she has to leave again. That they won't see each other anytime they want anymore.

She loves to perform, but it’s at this moment that she most detests the career path she’d chosen.

“Tsugumi.”

Tsugumi pauses with a quizzical expression. Sayo breathes in, preparing herself for the consequences of doing this.

“I’m afraid… that this may be the last time I’ll see you for quite a while.”

Sayo can see the moment that realisation dawns on Tsugumi’s face. It makes her cringe, but this has to be done.

“Oh.” Tsugumi says. She frowns, “Right.”

“Yeah. I knew that you weren’t staying forever.” Tsugumi laughs breathily. It seemed so forced that it made Sayo wince.

“That’s right. Tomorrow, I have a booked flight to Italy.” Sayo states, trying to keep her voice levelled. This is for Tsugumi’s sake, she reminds herself.

“Mm. Okay.” She seemed so sullen, almost disbelieving. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” Tsugumi questions quietly.

 _I didn’t want to worry you_ , Is what Sayo thinks, but she doesn’t say it. She knows that Tsugumi would definitely hate that kind of answer.

“It was a last minute decision.” Sayo lies.

“You’re lying. I can tell.”

Sayo takes a step back, a little shocked. “...I didn’t want to worry you.” The truth eventually leaves her lips.

Tsugumi laughs sadly, “I see now why you lied. You know I’d hate that kind of answer.”

Sayo wants to apologise. But the words don’t come out.

”And I do. I hate it. _I hate you_.” Tsugumi’s voice finally cracks, and she finally looks up, teary eyes making Sayo grit at her teeth.

“Why did you have to be like this.” The brunette sniffles and wipes at her eyes with her sleeves, “Though it’s also my fault because I keep letting you break my heart.”

“Tsugumi-”

“Leave.” Her voice cut through, leaving thick tension in its wake.

“But-”

“Leave! ...Please.” Tsugumi begs, her voice cracking.

Hesitantly, Sayo walks away, the direction of her house. She tries to ignore the loud sobbing from behind, and begins to run- faster- _faster_!

Run away from reality, because all she ever does is ruin it.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk to Tsugumi before we leave?”

Sayo keeps looking back, hoping to see the brunette hair in the crowd, hear her cute voice calling out for Sayo. Sayo wants Tsugumi to come and stop her from leaving. Tell her she loves her.

But that’s only a fantasy.

“It’s fine. Let’s go.”

 _Why did I ever think we could be together?_ Sayo thinks. _All I do is leave and break her heart._

Somehow, it’s fitting. It happened once and nothing stopped it from happening again. 

Sayo comes to an understanding that not all stories have a happy ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh.  
> oops.  
> i took 2 months.  
> it's an accident i swear please don't lynch me.
> 
> remember when i said that i wasn't going to give tsugu angst in this chapter.  
> ...i lied.  
> OKAY THE REAL ANGST ENDS NEXT CHAPTER I S W E A R.. you can slap me with a chicken drumstick if it doesn't end by next chapter. i think it's basically obligatory for me to end the angst EVENTUALLY anyway. i'm not that cruel .... or am i? :D  
> i'm not particularly satisfied by this chapter, but it's the most i could squeeze out of my head for now, so i guess you guys just have to deal with this kind of lazy writing keke- BUUUT still. i got SOMETHING. it's better than nothing, right? :'
> 
> so! i was lied to. two weeks before school ends and we have to do exams. not a very fun thing when i'm not a very productive person ESPECIALLY when it comes to the holidays :( time to cry and actually try to study... i got a math exam and it's split into two so 100 hours of a test i will now proceed to cry even more.  
> uh if you think the sans asmr comment was completely out of place and strange. it is. i just wanted to reference a joke my friends and i talk about all the time (the video) because - it's funny - i- it just is. they kind of asked for it too HAHA
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for the last chapter- and really, thank you for the comments, they really lift my spirits! i just come back to it when im in the middle of a hard day, and it's like that's all gone! wow. idk how that works but i like them a lot ;;
> 
> Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram:  
> @Alienyanya


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